Army Easter (delayed)...

My Nephews & Niece have come to expect from me that I am never on time for the Holidays...so they were very excited when their Easter Box arrived within a week after Easter.

That was pretty good timing...for me! ;o)

It's really not bad either, I can toss in more goodies cuz items are then on sale (and the kiddos are catching on to that now too). lol











The kids are so excited when they receive a package that I have to make it to the attention of "Cassidy Kids" & not to one specific so that they can all open it together.


My brother said they LOVE to see the Fed Ex truck arrive - every since the movie Castaway - remember..."WILSON"....









They sure got after it when they got the box - not sure what they enjoyed more, getting the box or getting the goodies....or as you'll see....getting the bubble wrap.













Ahhhhh.... Bubble wrap.....


Who doesn't love it????!!!!!!!









I made sure that they all got the same stuff, but Miss Kaitlyn got the "softest" Teddy Bear and her TShirt has the Pink on it and her Basket is Purple, and the boys are Army Green.

Gotta be equal, but yet a little different. ;o)

Nolan displaying the "Airborne" shirts that I got for the boys

I'm thinking Kaitlyn likes the bouncing Airborne Tigers that I got for each of them??

Justin was playing with them here as I was preparing the baskets, and they almost didn't get sent, as the dogs liked them too. lol











Little girls and their Teddy Bears.....Just Precious....















I was a little more particular with the type of eggs I put in Kaitlyn's Basket too....They were a little more prettier than the ones in the boys...I don't think they cared (probably didn't notice, but I bet she did)

I got a magnet for them to put on their Refrigerator to think of Uncle Justin every Morning.

Now....after all the excitement of opening the presents is over, then the real fun begins....

Nolan & Brayden seen here jumping on the Bubble wrap....do you think they even noticed that I also put the movie "BOLT" in there too for them???

Oh well, I bet Kaitlyn is off somewhere in her TShirt with her Teddy watching it w/o them....nice and quiet....lol....

Happy Easter Cassidy Kids! LOVE YOU!!

XOXOXO

Chicken Pen

So, I get an email from my Brother stating that he took the week of my Nephew's Spring Break to help them build a "Chicken Pen" for their new baby chicks???

I was not aware of this project and found it to be quite interesting....they decided it cost too much to purchase it on their own, so they built it. A friend of my brothers had the building that was old and so he bought it from him and they got a picture of the chicken pen off the internet on how it was done and just did in on their own, instead of spending thousands, it was just a couple hundred. Very impressive.




This is Brayden....he has already named about 4 of the chicks already - I told him to just use food coloring to tell them apart?

I thought that would be easier to tell them apart? lol - He thought I was silly.











Nolan is also posing with the chicks but he didn't tell me if he was naming any of the chicks or not.

Here's both of my Nephews with the chicks in the Pen as it's being built. Not quite finished.

You see they had a make-shift home in the garage while they were finishing up the Pen.

I like the expressions that my Niece, Kaitlin keeps giving them, she was a little more cautious around them. Good to see she's more of a girly girl. ;o)






Kaitlyn petting one of the chicks here, wonder if she will help clean up after them? hmmm...




Here's the finished product....pretty cool, huh?

I'm thinking since they live on a few acres, once the "critters" start hearing the chicks - they will have some unwanted visitors....







My Brother & Sister In Law have already discussed this with the kiddos in case some of the chicks end up missing.

I'm so proud of all the boys though with this Chicken Pen Project.

This is for Nolan & Brayden to learn how to take care of animals so that they can eventually get a Dog! Yeah!!! I'm sure they'll do great!!

Air Assault School...

As if there were any doubt….

Justin passed his
Obstacle Course Test
& made it into Air Assault School !!!

He leaves on May 11^th
for Fort Benning , GA ….
only 2 Soldiers in his whole Battalion were “selected” to go & he was one of them!

The Sabalauski Air Assault School (TSAAS) is a FORSCOM TDA unit that trains leaders and Soldiers assigned to the 101^st Airborne Division (Air Assault), other Army units and U.S. Armed Services in several courses annually.

These courses include:

AirAssault

Pathfinder

Pre-Ranger

Basic Airborne and Jumpmaster Refresher Rappel Master FRIES/SPIES Master courses and also home to the Division’s Parachute Demonstration Team

Air Assault School is a ten-day course of instruction that teaches Air Assault techniques. It's also one of the most physically challenging ten days in the Army.

Prior to AAS, you have to pass the Army PFT (plus pull-ups), perform a 12-mile unit march under three hours, and navigate the TAAS obstacle course successfully to qualify for Air Assault Training. Pack this into a ten-day school where you learn how to prepare helicopters for carrying Army equipment and personnel, and you have one challenging course of instruction.

Once you report to AAS, you have to repeat the TAAS obstacle course and run a two-mile timed run. The TAAS obstacle course will test your upper body strength, grip, agility, endurance, confidence, and ability to perform at heights. During the tough and demanding training events of the course, the students must avoid becoming a safety risk to themselves, instructors, or other students. The TAAS obstacle course enables the instructors to see who is scared of heights or gets nervous under stressful conditions before the actual training starts.

You will have daily PT of pullups, pushups, situps, and runs of up to four miles. You will also have to do a six-mile foot march with gear within 1.5 hours. At the end of training, the students must complete a 12-mile foot march with gear within three hours in order to graduate. The good news is this challenging course is only ten days long. So, if you think you are going to attend the school in order to get into better shape, think again. Ten days is not enough to get into shape. In fact, you will likely injure yourself if you attend instruction in less than top physical shape.