REPLY: You are the best motherrrrr ever for a little child like me (and a little baby like Balen)

Your shot: miss. My shot: A1

My shot, A1, cool! Do you know why I said, "Cool"? I said, "Cool" because A and 1: the first letter of the alphabet is A, and A1! Do you get it? If you do, H O O R A Y.

My day was, uhhhhh, kind of in the middle, and kind of bad. Well, I have two loose teeth and I can tell that one of them is going to fall out soon. Both of my loose teeth are on the top of my mouth (I'm wearing the blue dog tag you gave to me that says, "With Love, From Mom, U.S. Air Force, Iraq 2007"). Balen's is on his ceiling fan. My daddy told me it's hanging from it. Btw, one of the little beads of my chain broke off. Well, today I didn't go to school, of course. And no church of course because it's Saturday! Why would I be going to school or church? I'm glad you're in my heart, and I'm glad Balen is funny, and I'm glad Daddy gives me treats, even when I don't deserve them. Oh, no. It's already 8:50. I have to finish my email. Well, we have been watching some Stargate SG-1, just to tell ya. And I think I would wanna say goodbye. And... until next time

Love,
Abigail

RE: REPLY: I don't get why you have to go to IRAQ.

Your shot: miss My shot: G10

You are absolutely right that Balen can't wear his - it is a choking hazard. You are a very smart girl, Lady of the House! I'm glad you are there look out for little Balen and to take care of yourself. I hope you are taking care of Daddy, too. I think he's sick also, so you should be nice to him, too.

I hope my whole family is feeling better soon. I'm sorry that everyone is sick.

I mailed you letter today (finally!). Sorry that it took me so long. I'll do better next week.

I'm really tired. I didn't sleep very well last night, and now I'm sleepy. I hope you've had a good day!

And there is absolutely no need to repay me. Those are for you.

Love,
Mommy

REPLY: I don't get why you have to go to IRAQ.

Your shot: Miss My shot: D10

I just DO NOT GET WHY y-o-u have to go to I - R - A - Q. Do you have to go to IRAQ because you guies need to help make it a better place? It seems like it to me.

Oh yes! I do like the picture of you in the small room, too! The picture of you and TSgt Gordon with your arms crossed on top of the Zig and the picture of you in a small room are a tie as my favorite pictures. Oh, and by the way, I got your letter with the blue dog-tags. I fixed them up. Balen has one, too. Thank you, Mommy. I'll try to pay you back. I put mine on. Mine is on right now. Balen can't wear his yet. It's too dangerous, he'll probably choke himself. Now isn't that right?

I have to go, sorry. I'll try to pay you something back, don't forget. I'll try my best I can to get something I can pay you back with. I love you as much as I love myself and Balen. Good morning! and good night for me!

Love,
Abigail

P.S. Mini-melts are like little bags of powder. It's medicine.

RE: Good morning

Your shot is a miss. My shot: G8

I got a lot of work done today! It was great! Your a funny little girl, Abigail! Your emails crack me up! I love them!

Your favorite picture is the one with our arms crossed, huh? That was on the top of the Zig. I also like the one where I'm in the little room. Do you like that one too?

No, I'm not familiar with mini-melts.

I've had a busy (but productive) day but I need to get going now. Good night! I love you, my little Sweetie! Be a good girl! I wish I could see you in the morning, but we've still got a long ways to go, so don't think about that too much. Instead, focus on being the Lady of the House!

Love,
Mommy

Re: Good morning

Your shot: miss My shot: F8

Yes, I got the pictures you sent. My favorite one was you with your arms crossed and TSgt Gordon with his arms crossed. Oh yeah, I do remember because of his son. Yeah, it's going to be cool that when you come home you can play a few whole songs.

Well, how has your day been? My day was alright. Can you call me tomorrow at 4pm? If you can, that's good. Balen loves to play with my mouse. He always plays with my mouse. I don't know why he always plays with it. It's just funny for some reason; he just likes it. Well, this time we started our standardized testing. That's what we did first thing in the morning. But really the first thing we do each morning is... open our folders to the page that Mrs Maynard needs to sign! Well, anyways we did our standardized testing for 3 days. We finished the standardized testing, finally. Even though it was only 3 days it seemed like a lot. I didn't like it so much. I hate standardized testing. Hopefully I got a good grade. A computer has to read our standardized testing. I don't know what it is going to think about my grades. I don't know what everyone's grades are going to be. You don't know what they are going to be either. Well, of course, you don't know, because you are in... guess what... I-R-A-Q!!! And you're an Iraqi soldier, I think. And Balen is a little mini-Iraqi soldier. Get it? Mini-Iraqi soldier? I'm a medium sized Iraqi-soldier. Medium and mini Iraqi soldier. Funny, eh? Because it is to me. And if it is to me, then it must be to you. Because some girls are the same. Have you heard of little bags of mini-melts?

Oh and by the way, I got your letter that says, "Who? What? Where? Why? How?" I think the missing question word is "have" because I typed "Have you heard of little bags of mini-melts?" Oh and by the way, mini-melts are a type of medicine which is a type of powder and I ate one at school. It tasted good at first, but when the taste got off, yuck! The way you scream is funny. Balen is funny, usually. Well, not usually, but sometimes. Well, I think I might want to end my email now. It's 7:51! I was supposed to go to bed early today. Oh no. :o{ (i wrote a worried face). Good morning! I love you! I wish I could see you in the night time and everywhere else.

Love,
Abigail

Good morning

For me, it is morning, so I am saying "Good Morning!"

Did you get the pictures I sent you? Did you like any of them?

Your shot is a miss. My shot is E6.

I still owe you a letter for this week. I haven't written it yet. I'll get it done tonight though, and mail it out tomorrow morning. Sorry, kiddo! But you will get it!

I'm getting a little better at playing guitar. I'll be able to get through a few whole songs by the time I come home - pretty cool, huh? It's just me and two guys now that are playing. One of the guys had to go home because his son was in the hospital. Remember that? Here's an update - they ran a test for leukemia and it came out negative. That's a good thing, because leukemia is something bad. So they are still running tests and trying to figure out what it wrong, so continue to pray for them.

Well, I'm going to get my day going. I've got quite a bit of work to get done. Today looks like a nice day - sunny and warm, but hopefully not too warm! I'm gonna refill my coffee cup and start on my work!

I hope you have (had) a WONDEFUL day!

Love you baby girl!

Mommy

Re: REPLY: Hit!

My shot: B8

I have to stinkin go to bed already. [Daddy typing] She wasted her time huddled under her towel after the shower, and it's past her bedtime, so no email. This was rather typical of her behavior tonight. [Daddy done typing].

Love,
Abigail

RE: REPLY: Hit!

What is your shot? You forgot to shoot again, silly girl!

Today wasn't nearly as crazy as yesterday! That's a good thing. I got some work done today and I'm going to go to dinner in a few minutes. I am hopeful that tomorrow I will get a lot of project work done and I'll be able to spend a little time on other things.

I forgot to write you a letter on Sunday, so I haven't mailed your letter to you yet. Have you received the last one I sent? I put something else in there too. Let me know when you get it, okay?

Hugs and kisses for everybody! I love my family!

Love,
Mommy

REPLY: Hit!

Yay! You finally got a hit! Sheesh self! ;o) It’s winking at you. That means I’m winking at you! Doesn’t it feel good to know that someone is in your heart? I think that it feels good to know that someone is in your heart. It’s good to have someone in your heart. Isn’t it good? To me it feels good and is good. Well, to me anyway.

Well, my day was becoming horrible, but not anymore because I got something back. “Baby Icing” on duty! Do you know who Baby Icing is? Baby Icing is the little horsey that I got from birthday express because it had blue icing on her leg. That’s why I named her Icing. Balen has already broken my telescope. We’re going to tape it. Tape works well, but glue for my telescope worked better. I’ll try to explain it to you when I send the picture. I don’t know who will send it, me or Daddy; of course, Balen won’t send it because he’s too little. Jasmine has been alright and so has Morpheus. Although I haven’t really seen him, but I think he’s doing well. And that reminds me, I need to feed the cat. I’ll do it in the morning. Right now it’s 6:53. I’m having an early bedtime. It’s an hour before my usual bedtime, do you know when that is? My usual bedtime is 8:00. And one hour before that is, you know what, 7:00!! (I just did that in tremolo, the 7:00). Oh my, 5 minutes until I need to go to bed. I’m sorry but I have to go, Daddy said so. Goodbye, I love you, my little sweetie pie. (I did that in a little tune) Well, bye bye my sweetie pie. Cool, bye, pie, they rhyme. I love ya.

Love,
Abigail

RE: REPLY: Miss

You sunk my submarine! My shot: A6.

What a day I had! First of all, it was raining like crazy this morning! It would sprinkle, then it would be pouring. Then there would be nothing, then it would get all dark again and start pouring rain and the water would be coming down in sheets. It eventually cleared up, but now the whole base is slightly flooded, and EVERYTHING IS MUDDY! Early in the day one of the shop guys called me over the radio and said that today would be a great day to work with them. They were trying to make fun of me, by expecting me to say no because it was muddy out, but I said yes I'd work with them. But they never came to pick me up. So I went to their shop, and they said they were kidding. But I made them take me with them anyways. We worked on some generators, and I got a little greasy and really wet, because I had to walk through some puddles. I'll send you some pictures when I get them - someone took some pictures of me. Anyways, after we got some lunch we went out to the airfield, and while we were out there a C-130 airplane almost landed right on us! It was crazy! The pilot was trying to land on the part of the airfield that we were at instead of the runway! We were really scared for a couple of moments, because we thought the airplane was going to crash into us! Luckily, it turned and landed on the runway like it was supposed to. At least nobody got hurt...although we were a little shaken up by it. And then when I came back to my office I found out that my boss was sick, and I had to fill in for her for a meeting. Then I had to help some other shop guys get out on the airfield to catch a jackal, but the jackal wasn't trapped so we didn't try to chase it. I'm pretty tired today - I should sleep well tonight!

Whoa - I'm tired. My feet are still wet - they've been wet all day, since about 0900 this morning, and right now its 1730. I hope that you had a nice day today - better than my day, anyways!

I love you!
Mommy

REPLY: Miss

Your shot: Miss My shot: G4

Man, only if you got hits more often. Although I still think I'm still think I'm lucky, but, I just don't know what to think. Either I want you to win, or me to win. I just don't know who I should pick that I want to win. If I was really really selfish I would always pick me, which isn't very good. But this time I want to pick me to win, or both of us having a tie. It's just too hard to decide. I do not know what to think or pick!

Well, my day was almost good. Not really in the middle, but a little bit higher than that. You know what I mean? Because if you do, then g o o d. (I was spelling "good", that's why there are spaces) Well, I did my morning stuff, and I did my seatwork, and I got finished with everything in the morning because there were only two things because of the standardized testing. We were doing little things on the back and stuff. That's what I mean by starting the test. Mrs Maynard said, "We're going to start the test a little bit." And she meant things on the back like writing your name and grade and teacher's name. Did you do that when you were little? Standardized testing? Because every year, says Mrs Maynard, in every country, every child does standardized testing at some point near the end of the school year. After we did the standardized testing, which was after recess, I continued my Christopher Columbus packet. Have you heard of Christopher Columbus? He was the man who wanted to sail west and found the country. But the native spanish americans found the country first, says Mrs Maynard. Balen was chewing on a little thing from Burger King. It's like a grass stand for the Burger King bobble-head. Here's how I'm going to explain it. There's a crown on it, a golden crown. Of course a bobble head, with brown hair and he has a red coat and little white fluffy things on the edge of his coat like where his zipper would be. Well that's all I can explain to try to describe it. Sorry it's not very much to you. Sorry if it isn't very much describing for you. Well, soon we had lunch and after lunch we had recess. After recess we went back to our classroom. Before we got inside, Mr. Maynard said to me, "Do you want to come with Gabriella to go home early?" I said, "Yes yes!" Mrs Maynard said, "I'll call your daddy and check with him to see if you can come home with us." Then I went home with them and that was my day. Of course there was the evening stuff. Bye, Mommy. I'm gonna leave now. Love ya. Talk to you soon.

Love,
Abigail

RE: REPLY: Hit!

Hello my darling little girl! I'm glad that you were good yesterday. Keep it up! It makes me very happy to hear that you were a good girl.

Your shot is a miss. My shot is: B5

Here are some pictures from my field trip. I went to the Ziggurat - it's a really big structure, a temple that built a long, long time ago. Also, Abraham's House is nearby. We went there too. One of the things there is the oldest known arch ever built.

The picture of the guy hugging me - that's SrA Johnson, and he's from Southern California too. The picture of me with the bald guy, that's TSgt Gordon - he plays a bass guitar (that's a different kind of guitar) in the praise band and the other band.

The picture of me fishing is from yesterday - you can see the Zig in the background. I didn't catch any fish, but we saw a few jump out of the water. I was fishing with TSgt Gordon. I caught a big stick, he only got a little one. I won! :o)

I hope you like the pictures! If you have questions about them, tell me and I'll answer them!

Love,
Mommy

REPLY: Hit!

Your shot: hit. My shot: D4

Finally, you got a hit! Hooray! I've been getting lucky, though. We've each found 3 of each other's ships. I bet you I'm going to sink your next ship that I'm trying to destroy.

Today was a good day. I watched Daddy play a game called Tomb Raider: Legend. I also watched him finish Call of Duty 3, which was very frustrating yesterday to him. He was cursing and yelling. He was very mad. He apologized when we went to Chad and Dana's house. He also told me it was bad behavior. I just tried to give myself a wedgie. I can't. Well, anyways, my day is what I should be talking about. And also my day... BRILLIANT! I mean that my day is so so good that I cannot say how good it is. It was good because we went out to dinner with Miss Kim and Mister Joe. I was about to say Mister Kim. After that I would have said Miss Joe. That's funny, isn't it? Excuse me, I farted two times, now three. Daddy just farted, too. Althought I farted three times, and he farted only one little time. Well, anyways, another reason why my day was good is because I was playing my DS and I watched Daddy play Call of Duty 3 and finish it, and Tomb Raider: Legend. I think I want to end my email now, although it wasn't very long. I love you! Good morning!

Love,
Abigail

RE: REPLY: Miss

Your shot is a HIT! My shot: A5.

I'll call you guys after you go to church today. I hope you have a good time at church! I know that Balen is walking all over the place - it's pretty neat to see him grow, isn't it?

Have a beautiful Sunday! I'll talk to you today.

Love,
Mommy

P.S. Your Fishapillar Bird is on my computer screen - do you think that's a good place for it? I'll send you a picture one day. Speaking of pictures, I'll send some to you later tonight or tomorrow - from my field trip I took yesterday! It was fun!

REPLY: Miss

Your shot was miss. Oh my. My shot is E4.

My day was alright. Well, I still need to water my plant. I was going to take a drink, but Daddy got all mad at me. I don't like it when people get mad at me for little things like that. He got mad at me because he didn't want me to do something other than doing my email. When I opened my eyes the first thing I did was close my eyes and just relax for a little bit. After a little while I went into Balen's room and played with him for a little while. Then I went to go to the bathroom and that's when Daddy came out of his room. I went to the bathroom downstairs, and guess what, I found out that the downstairs one was clogged. And we now have two toilets clogged; my bathroom toilet and the downstairs toilet. We only have one toilet that we can go in. Only your toilet. Daddy just said he would fix it as soon as he puts Balen and me to bed. Balen's just walking all over the place now. It's just so cool. And he's actually doing speed-walking or something like that. I think you know that he's definitely been doing speed-crawling when he wants something very badly and it's far away. Do you know that?

Well, I do know it's spring, of course. Well, I haven't really seen the flowers, but in the backyard by the shed there are little blooms coming up. And there's also a purple flower, I forgot what it's called, but it's blooming on the table. It's yellowish inside. And of course I would take pictures for you. But the problem is that I don't know where my stoo-pid camera is. Yes, that sounds funny. I laughed a bit when Daddy read that to me. Excuse me! I farted, sorry!

We did go to Chad and Dana's house today. I had a good time, except for when we were leaving. I was rolling around in their play-hut thingie. I think the brand is Playhut. Balen tried to turn off the computer. He's trying right now, but it didn't work. That's good.

Okay, I'm done. I love you my sweetie pie! You're my favorite mother, and the best one, too. And the most nicest one, too. Good morning!

Love,
Abigail

Re: REPLY: Sorry About That!

That's ok - it's no big deal that you didn't make a shot. But now that you have...your shot is a miss. My shot is C4.

I spent an hour running around this morning chasing some dogs off the airfield! There were 3 dogs, and they kept running through the gaps in the fences, which people don't fit through. So we had to jump in the truck and drive around, and jump out and try to catch the dogs, then chase them in the truck again, then get out and run. It was a little crazy! But it was fun, too. I was working with our Pest Management guys.

Hey - you know that it's spring now, right? A new season, and your favorite season, too! How are the flowers doing? Is anything blooming yet? As soon as things start to bloom, can you take some pictures for me? I would love to see how it looks! There aren't very many flowers out here. Just some weeds, but at least they are green - everything else is tan/gray. The cool thing about it being spring is that it means we're that much closer to me coming home. Once we get through spring, it will be summer, and I will come home after one month of summer. I've been here for just over two months now, so that means four months to go.

Keep hanging in there! I wish I was with you too, but I'm out here chasing around dogs instead! Isn't that funny to think of - me running around chasing some dogs? Well, I've got to get back to work. I've got some projects to review. You see, I'm the boss of my section, and everything that everyone in my section does I have to review to make sure that it has everything its supposed to. Sometimes there is a LOT of work to do! It's not always easy being the boss of something!

I love you lots! Have a happy Saturday!

Love,
Mommy

REPLY: Sorry About That!

Sorry that I didn't make a shot. I accedently forgot to make a shot. Sorry. Man, it seems like I forget EVERYTHING.I just don't like that. I'm a forgetter person. I guess that's why. What do you expect from a forgetter person? I mean, why would someone expect from a forgetter person for them to remember everything they get told? I think that maybe they should expect them to forget one or two or three things.

My shot is F5.

My day was in the middle. At first it was good, but then it got ruined in the evening. I was being bad. That's why my evening got ruined. Well, I was making a lot of noise at the science fair at 7:00pm. Well, we barely stayed there at all. It was like 5 or 10 minutes. It was actually an hour. Right now it's 8:57. Oh yeah, I forgot to water my plant. My Daddy keeps on starting to count for some reason. And I don't like that, which is getting annoying already. He started it like last week or so.

I love you. I have to leave because it's 9:01. Stupid 9:01. I wish that you could be here to comfort me for once. Goodbye.

Love,
Abigail

RE: Miss!

You didn't take a shot...

Well, I got some work done today for some smaller projects, and I should get a lot more done tomorrow. I like it when I get things done - it's like when you get your homework done - it feels good to have it finished, doesn't it?

I'm a little sad right now too. We had to send a guy home because his son is sick and the doctors don't know what's wrong with him. His son is only a couple of months older than Balen, so just imagine Balen being in the hospital and not knowing what's the matter. Pretty scary, huh? Could you please pray for that family? Thank you.

I hope that you are continuing to behave well...even if you get your name on the board at school, you can still behave well at home, right? So don't give up if you have a bad time at school - just make it a good evening.

Please give Daddy and Balen a hug and a kiss for me. I sure do miss hugs and kisses - they are a really important part of life, and it really sucks to be without it.

And here's some for you: <<<>>> *smooch*

Love,
Mommy

Miss!

Man, you got a miss again! Darnet! (By the way, this font is called "Joker man").How come I keep getting all the hits, and you keep getting all the misses?! HUMPH!!!BIG CHEESE!!!

Well, my day was pretty good . It was also a little frusterating. Well, we had a substitute today, so it was a little diffirent. First of all, we did our pledges. Then we did some seatwork for a lttle while. At 10:00 a.m., we had some recess. After recess, we continued our seatwork. Then we had a game of sparkle. After tsparkle, seatwork. Soon after that, it was lunchtime. After lunchtime, we had some recess. After recess we went back to the classroom. Then we did some seatwork for a few hours. Soon it was time for chapel. After chapel, we went to afternoon extended for a little while. Then Mrs. Maynard picked me up. All of us had a ice cream sunday.

I have to go bye bye now. Sorry. I wish I could make a longer email, but I can't. It's late. That's why I have to leave. It's 8:22. I love you!!! :-)

Love,
Abigail

RE: REPLY:I think I figured out the arrows now!

Your shot: HIT! My shot: E9

I'm glad I'm your special mother! You are my special daughter! I love having you as my daughter! You are the best!

And you did figure it out - good job! I knew you could get it!

I never saw Veggie Tales when I was your age, but I did like it when I saw it as an adult.

And yes, Abigail, I got in trouble at school all the time for talking. You are just like me - really smart, and you get good grades, and you know the material that you are studying, and you don't want to wait for the teacher to explain it to everyone else. That's just too boring. At this rate, you'll turn out just like me. I hope you like me, because one day you will be me!

I love you!
Mommy

REPLY:I think I figured out the arrows now!

Miss. My shot: F4

Do you know why I figured it out? I figured out the arrows because of YOU! YOU YOU YOU! You always help me out, SPECIAL MOTHER!  I think it’s “always”. I think the sentence is: You are always in my heart.

My day was alright. I mean “in the middle” kind of day. I got my name on the board, again. (sigh) I hate getting my name on the board. Did you when you were my age? I was being bad today. Well, after my being bad, I continued my seatwork. Today I got done with everything. After I finished everything, I did my Exodus packet. It was a lot of fun doing the exodus packet. I looked at my Bible; I had to because it was about Moses and I didn’t know very much. I had forgotten some things. And sooner or later we had lunch. I finished everything mostly in the morning. I finished the last thing after lunch and then I was at Mrs Maynard’s desk. And that’s when I started on my exodus packet. I almost finished it. I only had one more page to do. Well, not really one, but mostly one. And then I had to put it away at the end of the day. But there’s stuff before the end of the day. More stuff. Well the first grade came over at 2:00 and we made some puppets. I made mine silly. Gabriella made hers silly. Zahra did too. Mikayla did too. All of us made ours silly. It was fun doing the puppets. Then we watched a movie, and the movie was VeggieTales. I like VeggieTales. Did you when you were my age, and do you still? Aw darn, I gotta stop my email. Well, I was just gonna say the end of the day anyway, so it’s alright. I’m so glad I figured out the arrows now. So goodnight.

Love,
Abigail
P.S. I was awesome this morning. I got something back for the morning. But I lost it at the end of the day for getting my name on the board.

RE: REPLY: Nice songs!

Miss. My shot: H7

I've had a long day, and I need to get going. I hope you have had a good day, and that you have a good night.

Sorry that I don't have time for much more tonight. I had a very busy day, with some meetings and I'm getting ready for a briefing that I'm giving tomorrow.

Oh, if you need an other clue about the arrows: the arrows are pointing ALL WAYS.

I hope you get it now!

Love,
Mommy

REPLY: Nice songs!

My shot: still B3.


Those are some nice songs! Today at school I sang “Do a Deer”. I was singing it just now.

My day wasn’ t so bad. It was atleast ok. That’s good! Isn’t it? Well, we did some seatwork for a little while.

I didn’t get any email done because I was playing with my belt for 45 minutes instead of doing my email.

Bye, Mommy. I love you.

Love,
Abigail

Busy day

I had a very busy day today, and I've got to get going right now. I'll write a better email tomorrow.
Here are a couple of the songs I'll be doing with my little group. Have Daddy play them for you some time.
Gold Dust Woman (Fleetwood Mac)
I Want You to Want Me (Cheap Trick)
Not the Doctor (Alanis Morisette)
Push (Matchbox 20)
Lights (Journey)
Shine (Collective Soul)
There are some others, but those are some!
Love,
Mommy

REPLY: I just love you so much.

I love you very very much. I wish you could stay here forever and ever and never leave. You’re just my favorite person in the whole world, and so is Daddy. I will never ever leave you. And Daddy. You two are both the best people ever. Oh yes, and for battleship, D7 was a miss, and I8 was a miss, so my shot is B3.

My day was in the middle. Well, one of the good things is I didn’t get my name on the board. Yea! I like to not get my name on the board. It makes me feel rejoiced inside. And it makes me feel good and it makes me feel just really happy and it makes me say to my mind, “I’m glad I didn’t get my name on the board, I’m glad I was good today.” Right now it’s 7:56! Ahhh! 4 more minutes! Big cheese! Do you know what I mean by “big cheese”? Gabriella always says, “Wow, big cheese!” and I just laugh. Then she says, “The big butts are the big cheese”.

At extended, it wasn’t going that well. Mikayla said a few mean things, Zahra and Gabriella didn’t really do anything. It was other people like Keon, who acts like he’s stupid; and he says, “For shut up, stut up”. I make this weird face, like I pull back my head, and close my lips, and pull up my eyebrows in a weird way. Know what I mean? Try to picture it in your mind.

I can’t get those stupid arrows figured out! Sheesh. Yes, it’s still cold. Yeah, I’d like to know what songs you are doing.

I have to go to bed. Balen is screaming and yelling, so I have to holler so Daddy can hear me. Not any more. Finally he stopped yelling and screaming. Bye, Mommy, I love you.

Love,
Abigail

P.S. – you’re the best mom ever.

RE: I love you so much

H9 is a miss. I didn't record my D7 shot, so that's why I got confused. I'm sorry.

I love you too. I'm sorry that I'm far away and that you have to miss me. Have you figured out the arrows yet? If you need more help, just let me know.

Today I went to some meetings, and I worked on some presentations, and I washed my truck. All pretty boring stuff - except washing the truck, that wasn't too bad!

Is it still cold for you? The nights are surprisingly cool right now. When it gets too hot, I'll send home some of my warm clothes. But for now, I still need them! I thought it would get warmer sooner, but I'm glad that its still cool in the mornings and evenings. That's the way I like it!

I'm going to keep this email short - sorry, but I've got to get going. I need to have dinner, then it's time for practice for the praise band. I'm also in a "regular" band we don't do praise and worship songs, but regular songs. Actually, two of the guys are also in the praise & worship band. Do you want to know some of the songs we are doing? Maybe Daddy can let you listen to them.

Ok...I love you very much. Even if I'm far away from you, I still love you. I wish I could give you a hug.

Love,
Mommy

P.S. I got a box today from you guys - thanks! :o)

I love you so much

I love you very oh so much. I wish you were over in Iraq for only 3 months. Well, actually, 1 second is what I prefer. Well, actually 1 mini- mini- mini- mini- mini- mini- mini- mini- mini- mini- mini- mini-second. I wish you were there for smaller than any human can count for any second and number and degrees.

Man, only if you were here right now you would help out and Daddy would not have such a hard time. Because Balen’s really cranky, he needs to get to sleep, he’s looking at me with very very dark eyes and smiling at me. Now he’s putting his face into Daddy’s chest. Now he’s just putting his finger on the buttons on Daddy’s grey shirt. Bluish-greyish, I think; yeah, bluish-greyish. Balen’s very sweet. He’s the sweetest little baby boy I’ve ever heard of. And the cutest one, too. And Miss Marie’s baby is the same cute and sweet as Balen. They’re both the sweetest sweetest sweetest sweetest little boys ever.

Well, I need to end my email now because it’s 7:56. Oh, and by the way, my shot is still H9. I love you, Mommy. Good morning because it’s morning right now for you.

Love,
Abigail

A short email, sorry!

I wish I could make a longer email, but I gotta get to bed soon. Why didn't you tell me about H9? I still haven't gotten anything about H9! But I really really really really really really really really really really need to get to bed. I want to go to bed so I can play with Gabriella. For reals! Sorry Sorry Sorry, but I want to end my email now. I love you my little dahrling! Actually, make that big dahrling! Don't forget I'm your little dahrling! Good night my beautiful little dear.

Love,
Abigail

RE: REPLY: I forgot to make my shot last time i sent an email

Ok, let's see.
Here's what I have:
She sunk my cruiser, I shot I7 and got a hit (this was on Tues/Wed)
She shot D7 (miss) and I shot I8 (miss) (this was Wed-Sat)
Now I'm getting that I8 is a miss, so why should I not fire back? I don't
get it. I know we skipped a few days - I didn't send an email one day, and
actually Abigail didn't shoot back when she sent her email "Aw darn it,
miss!"

I don't have time to look at everything now...I've got to get to chow. I
have record of her shots and my shots, and although we skipped days, no one
has skipped a turn.

I'll check on it tomorrow.

Abigail - I hope you are having fun with Gabriella and Ethan! Be a good
girl!

I love you,
Mommy

P.S. Today I helped some guys do some work out on the runway. Neato, huh?
A C-130 landed very close to where we were working - that was cool.

RE: Silly goose!

I'm sorry I didn't write to you. Btw, your D7 is a miss, and my shot is I8. I meant to write to you, but I got really busy in the morning. I went on the rounds with the water truck, delivering water to different buildings. We pull up in a big truck and connect a hose to the tank we're going to fill turn on the pumps. Guess what happened? One of the tanks holding about 4,000 gallons of water burst! Water was spraying everywhere, and flooded the area! Nobody got wet, because nobody was standing close to it when it happened, luckily. But we were filling it when it happened. We turned the pump off and just watched for a while - it was kind of cool and amazing and funny all at once. Now we have to replace that tank with a new one. What's most funny of all is that now a lot of people are teasing me, saying that I did it (it was nobody's fault, the tank just failed). It's ok that they are teasing me, because I know its just for fun. I'm going to work with the generator guys (they make power for us so that we can have electricity) for half a day next week, and I've already told people that when the power goes out unexpectedly next week, it'll be my fault! :o)

I'm glad you had fun at Chapel. I was in our Chapel last night, practicing with the praise band. We're getting better at putting our songs together. This week we're singing Lord I Lift Your Name on High, More Love More Power, All in All, Better is One Day, and Open the Eyes of My Heart. You know some of those, don't you? I'll see if I can get someone to record us one time, so I can send you guys a video.

Love you baby girl! Please be good for Daddy, and give Balen a little kiss for me.

Love,
Mommy

Silly goose!

You silly goose! You forgot to send me an email! That’s why I said “silly goose!”

Well, my day was fine. I did my morning stuff, Then, I got on my seatwork. After that, we had some recess inside. Then, we went back to our seatwork. Soon after that, It was time for music. After music it was lunch time. After lunch, we did our seatwork. Then we had some chapel. Chapel was fun!

Bye Mommy, I love you. I can’t write anymore because it’s 8:00 and that’s my bedtime. I’m sorry, but good night.

Love,
Abigail

REPLY: Ahhh, darnet! You got a miss!

Your shot: miss.
Man, if only you get a hit.

No, I did not get pictures of the bird poop. I have not done any cooking since you’ve been gone, by myself anyway. But, of course, with a little help. No, I didn’t figure out the arrows yet. For some reason I just didn’t get the pictures of the bird poop. Maybe daddy has it. Not laptop, but computer.

Sorry, I’m out of time right now. I have to go to bed. Tomorrow I’ll do better, don’t worry.

Bye, I love you. Wish I could see you in the morning again. Good bye! Good morning! For you it’s morning.

Love,
Abigail

P.S. You’re the best mother ever.

FW: Bird Poop

Tell Daddy that I couldn't send him an email...I'll try again today and see if it goes through.

Love,
Mommy

What's going on...

Your shot is a miss. My next shot is D7.

I like your made up words - septumeral and neptumeral. They sound Latin. Maybe you could make up a whole language! That would really be something, huh?

Daddy sent some cute pictures of Balen. Did you get the pictures of the bird poop? We had a couple of buildings here that had LOTS of bird poop in them. Yuck! But they've been cleaned out now.

I wish I could come too. I miss all of you. I miss being there for you, and cooking with you - have done any cooking since I've been gone? Maybe you and Daddy can make one of the recipes that you've already done before.

Did you figure out the arrows yet? Let me know if you need more help. I'm mailing your letter late this week - I forgot to take it to the mailbox! Silly me! So sorry, you may get it a little later than usual.

Well, I'm going to get to work now. I think I can get several things done today. That'll free up some more time for me to look for a school!

Love,
Mommy

REPLY: Hit!

You are a canya! Your shot was a hit! My shot: D7

You are such a canyanyanya! I'm just making up words. Those are just make up words. Daddy just flicked my head. Sheesh. He flicked my head because I'm talking to him improperly. I really really love you. I wish you were here. That's the only thing that I wish from you. With hugs and kisses!

My day was in the middle because of the evening. The evening was alright, that's what made my day in the middle. Well, I don't have to tell you, but I did my morning stuff like I told you a million billion septumeral neptumeral times. Do you know what septumeral and neptumeral are? Septumeral is more than 25 zeroes. Which is like 45 zeroes or something. Nevermind, we just looked it up and found that those two words don't exist. I found out that there is such a word as googolplex. A googolplex is 100 googols. And a googol is 100 zeroes. Here is the webpage where we found the number names: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_large_numbers. Now back to my day. We had some computer time. I played a new game called Build City.

Good night, Mommy. I wish I could see you tomorrow. I have to go, I'm out of time, I took too long. That's why I have to leave. Stinking stinking stinking old leave.

Love,
Abigail

RE: REPLY: Miss

Your shot: Hit! You sunk my Cruiser! My shot: I7

Let's see, I've already given a hint, but let me try another one...the arrows are pointing in all directions. The arrows are pointing all ways. Does that help you figure out what word it should be? Also, think about the rest of the sentence..."You are ______ in my heart."

I'm glad that you were honest today. Please continue to be honest, every day.

To answer your question about phase - phase is a stage, or a section or segment of a project. I was working one phase of the project - the part where we write everything out that we want done, and figure out how much it all costs. Now we have moved on to another part of the project, or a different phase. Now we are meeting with contractors to show them where the work will take place and let them ask questions. After a contractor is selected, we'll move on to a different phase - pre-construction - where the contracts are signed and we have meetings to go over the details. Then the actual construction will start. Does all of that make sense? A phase is just a different part of something. Usually, when you talk about phases, you are also talking about time - as in, the 1st phase, the 2nd phase, the 3rd phase...know what I mean?

I hope I didn't just confuse you more!

I need to get to work!

Love,
Mommy

REPLY: Miss

Your shot: Miss. My shot: I4
Don’t worry, I didn’t tell a lie. I’m glad I didn’t tell a lie today. (03/12/07) I just wrote the date, As you can see. By the way, I’m glad that you got MOST of your work done. Phase?! What’s a phase? And By the way, What about the hint for the clue? Wait a minute; did I really ask in my last email “can I have a hint for the arrows”?

My day was alright. I had a fine day. For sure alright. Well, I did my morning stuff as usual, I did some seatwork for awhile, then we had some recess, after that, soon it was lunchtime.

I have to go now. Because I have to go to stinkin’ old bed. Bye.

Love,
Abigail

Miss

Your shot is a miss. My shot is F7.

I hope that you didn't tell a lie today. I need you to ask yourself why you lie when you know that you aren't supposed to. What do you say to yourself when you ask "Self, why do I tell lies?" Abigail, you are a very smart girl, and you know that you shouldn't tell lies. You know that the bible says not to tell lies, and that your mommy & daddy say don't tell lies, and you know that it means that you aren't trustworthy. I don't want to hear about this anymore, ok?

I had a pretty busy day today, but I got some things done. I think I'll get a lot done this week. The big project that has been taking up all of my time has moved on to another phase - I've still got work to do for it, but not nearly as much as I did before, and that's a relief! Hopefully you know what I mean.

I miss you and Balen quite a bit. I'm sad that I’m so far away from you. But I love getting your emails. It makes me feel like I'm closer to you, so thank you for sending me emails.

I love you. Please behave.

Love,
Mommy

REPLY: How I tried to LIE.

Your shot: Miss My shot: I7

I tried to lie tonight. I was being foolish. I feel like I want to SMACK Myself BIG time. I feel like I want to kill myself because of that lie. Balen had put a nuk back behind the office tv (which is now in my room because of the Super Bowl party and it’s still there). And of course I don’t use it.

My day wasn’t so good. Why? Because of the lie. Cool, why, lie, they rhyme. Do you know why I wrote the word “big” in gigantic humongous letters? By the way, Titan A.E. is a cool movie. I love that movie. I wish you could see it tonight. On Friday, Gabriella was saying “yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo”. It was funny. Not like the “yoyo” kind, but like the “yo, yo, what’s up” kind. She was explaining to Christopher (her brother) that me and Gabriella didn’t play like “yo, yo, yo, yo, what’s up”. That’s a weird way of playing to me. Although Caesar sometimes says it to other people. When he says it I look back at him with a “that’s weird” face.

N is not the “an” kind. Is the N “in”? Because “you are all in my heart” kind of makes sense, but the arrows just don’t make sense. Last night I had an idea what it could be. I saw in my mind that they are all together in one pile and then turn and point at something, but I don’t know what. Could that be a close clue? It’s just hard to tell. Maybe the first word stands for “And” or something, and the next “l” stands for “lot” and the last “l” stands for… I don’t know.

Well, I think I want to go now. See you next time, Ma. Love ya. See ya later alligator. In a while crocodile.

Love,
Abigail

RE: How I tried to cheat.

I'll call you today. I'm sorry that you don't feel good. I hope you feel
better. I also wish that I was there to comfort you, my dear.

Your shot is a hit. My shot: B9

I haven't seen Titan A.E. yet. Maybe I'll watch it soon? I think that I
might watch a movie today or tonight...maybe Pirates of the Caribbean
II...we'll see. I'm usually pretty busy with other things though.

Love you!
Mommy

How I tried to cheat.

I tried to cheat in Battleship by moving one of my ships somewhere else. But it didn't get moved. Daddy caught me. Sorry, Mommy, for trying to cheat.

I was sick today and I threw up. Oh I forgot about shooting in Battleship. My shot: I6. Your shot: Miss. Well, it was a rough day for me, I mostly laid down. I ate almost a whole glass bowl of soup. I put the rest up on the counter. Well, I ate four bites of tuna sandwich and 7 or 8 goldfish. I ate carrots, but I threw that up. That's the time when I threw up. I threw up on my jacket, a little bit of throw up made it through the blanket onto the couch; but then nearly all of it poured onto the ground. Then Daddy gave me the bowl, you know that cake-cover container thing. He gave it to me, and I put it beneath my chin and I threw up into the rest of the way. I hate throwing up, don't you? It's so hard to throw up because you have to force yourself to use your breath to push it out. Well, that's how I explain it because it's hard to explain. It's just uncomfortable. It's hard to have uncomfortable things like doing throw-up. I can't even breathe when I'm throwing up. It's hard to understand why God made throw-up so painful. By the way, tonight we watched Titan A.E. We stopped about half way through. It's a good movie. Have you seen it before? It's really cool so far. I'm not feeling so well, right now. I don't feel like I'm gonna throw up, but I don't feel real well. My sickness is getting worse as the seconds, moments, mini-seconds, mini-mini-seconds, hours, and then days go by. And maybe it might even last for a few weeks. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, if it doesn't last for one week or more than a week.

I didn't have such a good day. Most lying down while listening to music. Watching Titan A.E. while I was eating. I'm gonna end my email soon because I 'm not feeling well. Sorry, though. I know you don't care if my email is short or long, but I'm still saying sorry. And if only I were feeling better I could make it longer. Balen just walked into my bathroom. Does he have the trash can? Oh, Balen is so, so a little rascal. Now he's coming back into my room. And going for the laundry basket. Sorry that I didn't get to tell you much about my day. I'm just not feeling well, that’s all. Well, I love you. I wish that you could be here to comfort me. Good bye.

Love,
Abigail :)

Hit!

Your shot is a hit! My shot is B6. You might think that's a crazy shot, but I've got a plan - wha ha ha! (evil laugh)

Today, I wrote a statement of work for cleaning bird poop out of a couple of buildings. There are some buildings that being used by people, and they have become homes for animals. In this case pigeons. There is so much bird poop in the buildings! It's as high as my knees in some places! Isn't that crazy? By the way, I didn't have to walk into the buildings, just go look at them from the outside to see what needed to be done. A contractor will be paid money to clean them out for us. That's what I'm writing the statement of work for.

Balen seems to really like his new toy with the gears. I guess he's clapping now, too? Do you guys clap together?

Here are some more pictures for you. The first three: We were putting up a large tent for a temporary Chapel. The old Chapel tent will be torn down so that we can put a new floor (concrete) in. I made the Chaplain in the picture there help us, since we were doing it for them, after all!

The last one is of me at Bingo last night with Eric (on the left) and Steve (on the right). Sometimes those two are like little kids and they call me Mom. What do you think of that? My head is down like I'm embarrassed because they were acting really goofy, but really I like those guys - they're a lot of fun.

Anyways, I've got work to do. I hope you are behaving yourself and not lying any more, ever again.

And by the way, thanks for answering my questions, finally. I'm glad that some of the bulbs are popping up along the berm. Also, you got most of the clues right! You can write the words in for these ones:

"U" = You; "R" = are; "m+eye" = my
"N" doesn't = an, but you are very close...it's another word, and it sounds a lot like saying the letter "N"
As for the "ALL" with arrows...think about the arrows, and what they are doing. They are pointing in all directions...let's see if that clue helps you figure it out!

I love you!

Mommy

REPLY: Miss, again!

Your shot: miss. My shot: I5

Man, hopefully you get a hit on your next shot. I don’t want to be rude, that’s why. Because I don’t want to be a poor sport and think all about winning and not think about anyone else in the game. That’s what I call being a poor sport. It’s hard being a good sport, to me, anyways.

Daddy checked on the berm and he said there are buds some kind of finger size. It was like a quarter or a half of an inch or something around there. Maybe like three quarters, I don’t know. I’m cleaning out my ears with a q-tip right now.

This morning, I did my morning stuff, yeah, I know, as usual. We did our pledges, journal, some kind of sentence thing for our spelling list 24. And then we did the rest of our seatwork, then we did some sparkle. After sparkle we went back to seatwork. I didn’t make it to #3 even because I tried to make my words neat, and it was so long, it was 23 sentences.

Yes, I like that Balen is facing forward in his carseat. I like it because it’s just cool. I think Balen likes it. I’m not sure, though. Yes, I will tell you when I think I understand what to do with your letters. I think the letter “U” stands for the word “you”. I think the “r” stands for the word “are”. I think the letter “n” stands for “an”. I think the “m” and the eye stand for “my”. “You are ALL in my heart.” Can you give me a hint to what the arrows mean? Because I have no idea what the arrows mean. By the way, My plant has a new leaf. It’s very, very tiny, but it is a new leaf. That new leaf looks cool. Oh my, it’s 8:31! I better get to bed. Sorry I didn’t get to tell you much about my day. In the morning I’ll tell you more about my day. Good night. I love you. I wish I could see you in the morning, but good night.

Love,
Abigailee

RE: REPLY: Miss

Your shot: Miss My shot: D3

I had lunch at a restaurant today. There are a couple on base, but I don't
go very often because we get free food at the DFAC (that means Dining
Facility). I had chicken pizza. It was pretty good. I'll probably eat
there again sometime. But none of the food here is as good as home.

It actually rained here this morning. Probably the last time I'll see rain
in a while...enjoy the weather there in NJ - and please let me know about
the flowers on the berm when you can.

Do you like that Balen is facing forward in his carseat? Do you think Balen
likes it? And can you PLEASE tell me if you understand what to do with the
letters I've sent you?

I love you. Here's a hug for you. And a kiss for you.

Love,
Mommy

REPLY: Miss

My subject is the same thing: miss. My shot: F9

Yeah, snow is beautiful. I can't really do that favor because I can't find my camera. And, Daddy, plus, did it for me already. Well, he didn't know that I was supposed to do it, but he did it. The first reason why I can't take pictures of him in his carseat is because, number one, I don't have my camera. Number two, plus, I'd have to bring it in the car, and then leave it in the car because I can't take it into school if it's a school day, anyway. And that wouldn't be good, because then it would get all cold and stuff, and that wouldn't be very pretty. So that's why I can't do that favor, but sorry. I wish I could but I can't. Daddy's guessing my camera is in the Mazda. I just asked Daddy if he could find my camera tomorrow, but he said he would do it tonight after he puts us to sleep. Balen just forced out a fart, because his face started to turn red, and I heard the sound. It was funny.

I lied tonight. And I had to get my but spanked five times total, anyway. I've been lying about playing with my hands. What I mean by "playing with hands" is pretending my hand is a horse, galloping around like a horse, okay? But I wasn't just playing with my hands. I was messing around with tape when I was doing my homework. It seems like Daddy's being a little bit mean to me. Because he didn't give me a hug a few minutes ago when I was crying, and he didn't give me one now when I was crying. I've not done one thing without messing around today, except at school when Daddy hasn't been there. I'm blowing my nose right now. Little Balen was looking at me.

I got done with everything today in seatwork. I got to do my Harriet Tubman packet and I finished it finally. It's been like six or ten days since I've been working on my Harriet Tubman packet. And finally I finished it. Daddy was going to type "Thank the Lord", but, really, I'm not thanking the Lord. Daddy told me this, "When you say, 'Thank the Lord'", you're supposed to be actually thanking the Lord. That's why I told Daddy to erase it. I didn't want to be saying it just for fun, because you're not supposed to be doing that.

I did my morning stuff, blah blah blah, like usual. I got to number 8. Number 8 was the last thing I did. Balen's coughing and crying. Poor buddy's tired and sleepy. I just gave Balen his nuk and he's starting to get a little better. He's moaning. Now he's starting to cry again. He just started to moan a little bit, but he stopped. Balen was starting to moan. Balen is calming down. He's laying his head down on the bed. Balen's a little sweetie-pie, isn't he? But I can't believe he's one already, and he's really small. I can't believe he's one already. His body is shutting down. It's time for me to go to bed now. Balen's bed time too. I love you, Mommy. I wish I could see you in the morning. Balen just waved good bye, and I think he's trying to say bye to you. He was kind of pointing at the computer. Here's a kiss from Balen and a hug from Balen and a kiss from Daddy and a hug from Daddy.

Love,
Abigail

Miss

Your shot is a miss. Keep looking for my ships! My shot is F3.

Are you enjoying the cold weather? I hope so. It's not cold here at all. I miss the cold. I like cold weather, especially when there's snow. Snow is so beautiful, don't you think?

Can you do me a favor? Can you take some pictures with your camera? I would like to see a picture of Balen in his carseat, facing forward. I think he's been like that for a little while now, but I haven't seen what it looks like. Also, maybe you can check out the berm for me, and take a picture of the daffodils coming up. The hyacinth are probably coming up around the deck as well. Nothing will be blooming yet, but next month everything will start to be pretty, because it will be spring - your favorite season! After spring is summer, and after a few weeks of summer, I'll get ready to go home!!!

And maybe you can take pictures of Balen, and Daddy, and Jazz, and Morpheus, and Miss Kim, and Mr Joe. And what ever else you want!

I love you, baby girl. You haven't answered any of my questions about my letters to you. Have you figured any of them out yet? If not, it's ok - you've still got plenty of time.

Type at you later!
Love,
Mommy

P.S. I tried to call you guys a few times within the last 20 minutes, but I kept getting put on hold. :o( I'll try again tomorrow!

REPLY: Miss!

Your shot: miss. My shot: A9

You got a miss again. My shot, hopefully, is a hit. And your next shot hopefully is a hit.

My day was alright. Well, I did my morning stuff as usual, but today we had a substitute: Ms. Kinsey. We had to sit down, but sometimes she gets annoying, but usually she's not. We did some seatwork. I got done with everything after lunch, and we did show and tell a different way than we usually do it. And after show and tell (which was in the morning) I continued on with seatwork, so did everybody else, and I brought up my first set of things, then I went back to my seat and started back on my seatwork and everybody else, too. Soon after that, we had some recess at 10:00. Then after a little break inside the room, we did some more seatwork, then after that it was nearly lunchtime. So we lined up and we were quiet like Ms Kinsey told us to. As quiet as little church mice. After lunch we had some recess as usual, then after that we went back upstairs and continued our seatwork.

What you said, "not just Viva Piñata gardening", was funny. I don’t know if any of the flowers on the berm are coming up. We haven't taken any pictures or looked over there yet. Today was very very cold. We had snow a little bit heavy on the ground. I'm going to ask Daddy if we can go to weather.com after my email. Actually, we just went to weather.com. And tonight it's supposed to go down all the way to 11. Right now it's 17. I got less than a minute left. AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! You yell like, ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! It's kind of funny. I just do a normal yell, like AAHHH! I don't mean short, but a big one, too, like I just did. Oh my!!!!! It's 8:10! I better get moving. Because it's 8:10pm. And of course, you know it's pm. So, you know, g o o d b y e.

Love,
Abigail

RE: REPLY: Hit!!

Your shot was a hit. You sunk my battleship! My shot: E4

I hope you guys are thinking about some real gardening, not just Viva Piñata gardening! Are any of the flowers on the berm coming up?

Let me tell you what to do with your letters. I thought I already explained in one of my letters to you, but here it is again. Each page is a word. Each drawing is a clue as to what the word is. So, the first one is just a drawing of the letter "U." That stands for a word. What word do you think it could be? When you have it figured out, write the word in the box on the page. You will probably figure out the "U," "R," and "N" pretty easily. You may even get the "m + eye," but the "ALL" with arrows will probably be a little tougher for you. But that's ok. You have plenty of time to figure it all out. Let me know if you have any other questions about it, ok?

Well, I've got a meeting to start - my flight is ready, so I need to get out there and start our flight meeting. I'll send some pictures later today, ok?

Love you,
Mommy

REPLY: Hit!!

You got a hit on me, you little stinker! My shot: E2. I can't believe you got a hit on me finally. But I'm not trying to be rude, because I did say "finally". Little Balen got a jack. A little orange one of mine. Now he has his nuk. Well, by the way I did bring something in that’s not a toy: a letter from you. I explained about it and I didn’t tell the story. I explained it was special to me. And I showed the picture to everybody. By the way I haven’t been keeping up with how many you’ve been sending. I have 5 of your letters. A “U”, “R”, “ALL” with arrows, “N”, and “M” with an eye. Hmmm, what could it be? Is it URNMY? I have no idea. Can you give me a hint? Because I definitely need a hint. Could it be “RUN MY” something? Maybe it’s “RUN MY GIRL” or “RUN MY DAUGHTER”. And we’ve been forgetting about that chain! My daddy says we should do something else than one chain each day, and then tearing it up when you get home. My daddy says no. He says on the weekends do all of them for that week. I have less than 2 minutes left. I wish I had more time. Balen’s playing two songs at once. Now only one is playing. Now the same one is starting over again. Man, I wish I could go faster so I could play stinkin’ old Viva Piñata. And I wish I could see Daddy play Viva Piñata. There’s new animals I’ve heard about on Viva Piñata. Eaglair, Buzzenge, and Candary. I have to be stinkin’ old done. Goodnight Mommy. I love you.

Love,
Abigail

RE: REPLY: Miss

Your shot was a hit - you little punk!!! My shot: E3

Well, hopefully Daddy has shared the pictures with you by now. I'm taking
more pictures this week and I'll send some more home to you guys soon.

I thought you had already taken Golden in for show & tell...anyways, I think
one day you should take something in that isn't a toy of yours, but
something that has a little story behind it. Do you know what I mean? Like
maybe the apron that was made for me, that Baba sent for you. Do you see
the value in something like that?

Today is kind of dusty/cloudy. It's nice and cool though, which is nice.
And so far, it isn't too dusty, and that' a good thing. I'm still
practicing my guitar, and I'm learning how to read music more, so that I can
get good at it. I'm working out more than at home, and reading more than at
home too. It's sort of nice having time to do all the things I normally
don't get to spend a lot of time on at home. But still, I miss you guys and
I'd much rather be at home where I could give you hugs.

How many letters have you gotten from me? Have you figured any of them out
yet?

I love you. Behave.

Mommy

REPLY: Miss

Your shot: miss. My shot: F2.

Hopefully you get a hit on me soon. Even if I lose I will say "good game", because that’s being a good sport. Even if I win I'm going to say "Good job". I'm not going to be like, "Ha ha, you lost!" I would not be like that to someone. Well, I used to be like that, but not any more.

I haven't seen the pictures yet, really. I didn't even know you sent pictures. I didn't know it, but it was Daddy's fault. He apologized to me, and I just said, "I forgive you, Daddy." Man, I wish it was easy to remember something new that was happening. Like a new year. When it turned 2007 on January 1st, I thought it was 2006 still. And when I was turning 7 I thought I was still 6! And when I was turning 6 I thought I was 5 still! I don't usually speak very fast when I'm telling Daddy what to type for my email. But sometimes I speak fast and then I stop for a few moments. Then I start speaking fast again. Then a few moments waiting to think then start talking fast again, you know? That's the pattern. I have little baby Icing in my hands. She used to have icing on her so I named her Icing. She's the little brown horsey I got for my birthday. I've had a good day today and I let Gabriella borrow my horse on a stick without telling my daddy, so he gave me a warning or something like that. I have little puppy golden on my desk. I'm going to bring her for my next show and tell. For this show and tell I'm going to bring my horsey on a stick. Man I can't wait until I get something else back. And I can't wait until I finally get some time to play Viva Piñata. Because I've not played it for two days in a row, or probably three days in a row. My time is almost up. It's 8:34 pm. It's 34 minutes past my bedtime. I stayed at Gabriella's until 6:30 and I took a very long time with my homework and messed around. Darn, I'm done. Well, goodbye. Hope you get a shot soon on Battleship. Love ya.

Love,
Abigail

RE: Miss, ha!

Your shot is a hit. My shot: D8

I am trying to take more pictures of me this week for you guys.
I've got a lot of work to do today...there are a lot of things that people have given to me to review, and I need to get that done. Once that's done, I'll have to work on some new projects. It's tough keeping up with all this work!

How did you like the pics I sent yesterday? I hope you enjoyed them. You ever wonder what happens to trash when the trash truck takes it away? Well, here everything gets taken to the burn pit. It's really really stinky when the smoke comes this way. But luckily, most of the time it stays away.

It's another beautiful day here today. Yesterday was gorgeous as well. I really like the weather here right now. Daddy said that the daffodils beside the shed are popping up. What about the crocuses and daffodils on the berm? Have you seen anything popping up out there? I hope so...I hope it all comes up beautifully. If it does, please take your camera out and take some pictures for me, ok?

Love you,
Mommy

Miss, ha!

You got a miss! You got a miss! Not trying to be rude. Because I’m saying it like, nah nah nah boo boo you can’t get me. Like that. My shot is G2. Man I have my ships in a lucky place. There’s something that’s so cool, but I’m not telling you what it is, because it will tell you where one of my ships is.

Well, we had the party today and it was fun. I played with Gabriella. I didn’t really get anything back, either. I tried to sneak something today. I tried to sneak two horses: a baby and a mother horse. Daddy caught us. I tried to sneak because I wanted to play with it and so did Gabriella.

I love being a big sister for one year so far. It’s fun being a big sister.

Poor little Balen is grouchy and very tired. He needs his nuk. It has disappeared. Balen’s crying right now. He needs to go to bed like right now. I only have 1 more minute to do the email. I’m sorry it’s short. I know you don’t care that they’re short, but still I’m saying sorry that it’s short. I love you. Good morning for you. Okay, now goodbye.

Love,
Abigail

RE: My behavior

H3 is a miss. My shot is also H3. I hope I get you this time!

It pleases me to know you are behaving well. Hopefully you'll keep this up and you will have all of your stuff back by the time I get home!

Enjoy the party today! I hope Balen has a good time - and you too, Big Sister. You've been a big sister for a year now - how do you like it so far? I think you are a great big sister, by the way.

I love you and I'll talk to you later, hopefully.

Love,
Mommy

My behavior

My behavior is going very well. I’m glad I got four things back. The things I got back were these things: Puppy Golden, Baby Icing, Cookie Dough, and a blue rapunzel horse.

My day was pretty good. Oh, and by the way, your shot was a miss. My shot: H3. Tomorrow is the party! It’s going to be so much fun! I can’t wait until the party! I want tomorrow! I want tomorrow! It’s cool that I got a hit, and you haven’t got a hit on me in Battleship yet. That’s cool, isn’t it? Right now Balen’s asleep on my bed. I don’t really have anything to say. Sorry that I didn’t get to tell you about my day. But it’s 10:31 already. I’ve gotta get to bed. I love you, Mommy. Bye.

Love,
Abigail

REPLY: Yes Mommy!

Yes Mommy! I will OBEY you! By the way, this font is cald Comic Sans MS. Do you like that name? I think it’s a nice name.

Now for the questions! I want to move this summer!. I would NOT like to be HOMESCOOLED in a state. That sounds a little interesting. I don’t really think we are going to plant very many veggies. I would like to plant some carrots, chillies, red peppers, and peas, too! Okay, I need to get going. I love y o u!

Love,
Abigail

Ha! Miss!!

H1 is a miss. My shot: I1

You don't have to write me long emails - short ones are just fine.

You didn't answer any of my questions about moving...can you read the questions again and when you reply back, give me an answer? Thank you.

Did you see the video I sent to Balen? Daddy said that Balen really liked it and got very excited about it. That's pretty cool, I think. It makes me feel good knowing that he got excited about it. It's hard being away from Balen, because I can't connect with him like I can with you. With you its easier, because we can talk on the phone and email each other. Know what I mean?

My day was pretty good yesterday, because I got one thing almost all the way done, and another one almost done as well. These "things" I'm talking about are for large projects - one is to do the site work (that means making the ground level, putting in concrete pads, putting power lines in-usually underground, and building roads - stuff like that) for a tower that's going to be built. Another project is to provide fresh water to a population of about 500 people. For both of those projects, my job is to write everything up that's going to be built, and figure out how much money it will cost. There are many other projects we are working on as well, but those ones are biggies.

I'm singing in a quartet, too. We sang the Star Spangled Banner for a ceremony last week, and today we'll be singing Amazing Grace for a service. I think its fun to sing in a group - it sounds pretty cool, too. I'll try to get a recording for you guys, so you can hear it too.

I've got to get to work now...there are more projects I need to write up and do cost estimates for. That's a big part of my job! I'd better get to it!

I love you,
Mommy

REPLY: Miss!

G5 is a miss. My shot: H1.

I've had a good day. My day was good because I played with my friends, they were being nice to me. Although I got my name on the board, but luckily I got a grace and didn't have to write the rules. I just didn't get my sticker. Well, I played with my friends very nicely and they played with me very nicely, and Gabriella said "let's play horsey's" this morning. And I said, "Sure". And we started our game, and then Gabriella got out a jumprope. We had gotten some scooters. She tied the jumprope to the scooters and we got pulled. Then Gabriella got in trouble and she had to sit in time out on the stairs, and most of all, the morning wasn't good. The rest of the day was perfectly fine. We all got over it, and sooner or later I got in trouble too and had to sit on the stairs on the stage too.

I just wrote a lot about my day, so I should get on something else. How about my evening, that would be fine. Well, I brushed my teeth this evening, I brushed my hair this evening, I played Viva Pinata this evening, I didn't really do my homework but I'll do that tomorrow. I had dinner this evening, I went potty this evening, And that's pretty much everything I did this evening. I don't really have very much to write about. Sorry. Well, I want to get going now. Sorry my email wasn't that long.

Hit!

Hey - how do you feel about us moving when I get back? Maybe we'll go to Colorado. I'm looking for schools in Ohio, hopefully near the Air Force Base we'll move to in Dec of 2008, so that we only have to move once instead of twice. Also, I think we'll be home schooling you for 3rd and 4th grade if we have to move someplace other than Ohio - how do you feel about that? It's sort of sad that we'll be leaving New Jersey, 'cause we like it there so much, but it's also really exciting too. We get to live in different places and experience different things. Not everyone does that. What do you think about it?

Last night there was a big dust storm, and now EVERYTHING is covered in a fine layer of powdery dust. The dust was even in the air inside our tent, and because it was so windy, it was very noisy in the tent too. It's windy again today, but the dust storm has passed. I hope there isn't another one today. How is your weather?

Speaking of weather...it's March now. Are you guys going to plant any veggies in the garden? It's probably a little too early to plant things in the ground, but you can start things indoors. You can start tomatoes and bell peppers. But then again, maybe we shouldn't even have a garden, if we're going to move. You can plant peas in late April, and they'll be done before we move. And radishes and green onions. What would you like to grow? Let me know, and I can help you by telling you what you guys need to do.

Give Balen a big hug and kiss for me, ok?

And you too!

Love,
Mommy

REPLY: Certain fun things

Aren't certain things fun? Only certain things are fun to me. Right now I'm in the shower and Daddy's typing the email while I'm in the shower. As usual [sigh], man, I wish I could type. I can make these big bubbles in my armpits. I rub my hands together with soap then I keep on checking on my hands and when it's ready I see a bunch of bubbles, that means its ready to make bubbles. Then I push it into my armpit and make a big bubble, that stretches far and wide.

Now I'm about to get out of the shower. I'm getting my hand wet, shaking them off and wiping my eyes. Oh, come on. Why I said, “Oh, come on” is because my ear was plugged with water in it and I’m trying to get the water out and it won’t work. I’m now getting out of the bathroom. Now I’m in my little room, and getting dressed in my PJ’s, nice and warm. I got new PJ’s, speaking of PJ’s. Right now I’m hiding from Balen so he doesn’t see me getting dressed. Hopefully he doesn’t see me naked. I have 5 more minutes for my time limit. I get four things back. One for this morning, one for shower yesterday, homework yesterday, and brushing my teeth. I’m glad I’m getting 4 things back, plus I got to bring a horse named Heart to school. My Daddy is going to take a picture of her. You’ll see the picture when I’m done. Oh and by the way, my shot for Battleship is H2. H9 was a miss. Today’s not really Wednesday, it’s Thursday for us. Tomorrow is Balen’s B I R T H D A Y. Of course, you know what it spells, birthday. Balen’s little birthday! Oh darn, my time’s up already. Oh welll. Bye bye. I love you my sweetie pie! I wish I could see you in the morning. Don’t leave me again.

Love,
Abigail

RE: REPLY: You're good ideas.

Think about why its common to miss so much at Battleship, and I'm sure you'll figure it out! Look at your board - there are a lot of empty spaces, right? More empty spaces than spaces filled with ships. SO that means when someone is shooting at you, they are more likely to hit one of the many empty spaces than one of the few filled spaces.

Your shot was a miss. My shot: H9.

Sorry I was talking about the wrong day...I thought you wouldn't get me message until later, and I realized that for me, later was today (Thursday) but for you it's still Wednesday. Sorry about that. Believe me, I know when Balen's birthday is!

I'm glad you like my chain idea. I think you have great ideas too. Just remember that I've had more time to come up with ideas than you have - I've been on the planet a little longer than you! Don't feel discouraged because you like my ideas better than yours. You think of good things all the time!

I need to get to work now. You write your emails to me just before bed, but usually I write my emails to you first thing in the morning when I get to work. I come in a little early so that I can spend a few minutes reading and writing to you. But, I have work to do, so I need to get going!

Love,
Mommy