All American Animals

Officially Official

2009-01-15T10:53:00.000-08:00

So as of Today my Doc is a Board Certified Physician Assistant!!!
SOOOO PROUD of him. He not only passed his boards (never doubted him!) but he passed by almost 200 points over the margin. Smarty pants.

Monetary sigh of Relief

2009-01-14T09:41:00.000-08:00

Ok, some people don't talk money. In fact my own sort of rules on money are a mish mash of other rules. I mean some people think its ok to throw out all sorts of figures. 'Figure's'...i like that word especially since it can be pronounced so many ways, it can mean so many things,... but back to my point. Some like to throw out lots of nice figures with debt and income and interest facts etc. In fact some people I tend to think are a little loose with the exacts of their finances. Than again I also have known people who are too closed off as well. I guess my mantra is not so stringent as to fall at either end of the spectrum but somewhere in the middle.

Now its not exactly a secret at what level of society we live in. You can tell a lot about someones finances based on the car they drive or the house they live in and the things they do. That said it can also show you how frugal or how 'loose' they are with their finances. I guess again I'm somewhere in the middle. I don't want to have zero debt but kill myself to achieve it and hate life. Then again purchases that are highly unnecessary around every corner...also a no no in my book. I think we all would like to think we handle our finances well but please...have a good look around and we can spot an example of every kind in each of our individual lives. Not that we are culprits but those around us.

My point really is that our finances are becoming more stable. Any idiot could see or deduce that when you go from enlisted to officer...there is a pay increase. If you didn't then now you know. Congratulations, you are out of the idiot book on this point in the future. Its not like we haven't made it in life. We've done ok. We've managed with an insane amount of college debt on my husbands side to pay off half. I would be lying to say it doesn't make me a little bitter to think that he was fed garbage about private school vs. public etc etc, and then had to finance his entire education, then be responsible for the loans (some very very hefty ones) and then be criticized when he opts to get a job of his choosing to pay off those insane loans while still enjoying and managing to have a family and further the career he always wanted in the first place. He is an amazing man due only to his own energy and work.

My point is not really to say we've made it but basically life is going to be a little better. I mean when we started out it was difficult. If anyone thought we ate anything but hot dogs and the veggies I could afford then they were fooling themselves. I couldn't take my child to the library because I couldn't afford the extra gas on a regular basis and I couldn't buy extras.
Anyone who says money doesn't make you happy is an utter fool. Only rich people say that. Try living without it and you might still be an optimistic hard working loving person but I'll be damned if money doesn't bring contentment and ease that financial hardship can not offer. It won't make you fall in love but when you can give someone things because you love them it sure does feel good.

We are not rich. I don't ever need to be rich but I'm also not under the mistaken supposition that hard work was not towards a greater purpose of providing more for our kids. I think there is a pride in that, that only we can have. I sometimes look at kids who's parents blindly paid for any and all education they desired. They take their now thriving dental or medical practice for granted. They walked into a career that they might have had to become qualified for but not at their own expense. I used to think I would make my kids work for it too. I wouldn't finance it all, I wouldn't give them a free ride but now I know that I will do what I can. It might not be free but it sure as hell helps in society to offer what you can. I know that if my husband had been able to be helped more or had the backing to reach his goals by people who financially were out for his best $$ interests not just posturing for good schools then our life wouldn't be the same. I am incredibly proud of all we have achieved. I always take responsibility for my actions and likewise refrain from giving other credit where its absolutely not due. This goal folks, just like most things in our lives is totally and completely achieved by our own sweat and blood per say.

What does that have to do with liking money. Well, just that we are nuts about price comparison and needs and health and stuff. It means that although I can still shop for the best deal, I can also buy the pricier shoes that fit my child's growing feet better. I can get an extra kind of fruit at the store and I can dam well see a bit of Europe.
So yes, I like the money. Its not a fix all in life but when you work really really hard for a long time to be able to make your life better. Its an amazing feeling to know better is finally coming. So really this isn't for anyone but me and I'm not braggin (because its not THAT much more money) but breathing an enormous sigh of relief that the mountain of college debt and hardship has finally got an end in site. I'm rambling a bit but that's ok. I'm allowed to ramble when my Doc is gone for months on end. Just wait to see what I'll ramble on about when he deploys next year. There could be some epically long posts! I promise I will try to keep them under control and not x rated. Maybe.

day to day

2009-01-13T10:41:00.000-08:00

I guess I just haven't been in the blogging mood lately. Not that life isn't good, just not feeling like expounding. I can, however, offer an update on the daily happenings.

Monday was a great day...as the kids were back in school. Why...well because we've had a lot of vacation lately so it was nice to get back in the groove. Maximus and I had a great Mom and Max day. Despite high gusty winds and snow we ventured out for our Cocoa and coffee. It was delicous, of course. We picked up a couple pairs of gloves for the wee ones as I noticed I could barely get their mittens on last week. Oops!! Guess those hands were growing more than I realized.
Max took a snooze, I got in a good couple mile run, then the boys got home. They did good too. Got the homework completed, Played some Wii, ate the dinner that Max helped cook. That boy is happiest when cooking! We cleaned up and the boys were quite nice to each other and spent some time in the play room doing cars.
Today Jack is working on the letter 'E' so we whipped up some eggs for breakfast and he made a book on the details of how he did it to share with his class. Then Max needed to make a book. He decided on the gingerbread man and made a ten page illustrated book about him and basically its the same stick man on each page doing something different. Very funny.
William is already off at school. Its band day so he went off lugging his trumpet and backpack to the bus this morning. The other boys are finishing lunch and will be headed to school shortly.
I will of course be back to tidy up more and keep things running smoothly.

Thats the most I've got. Nothing else of interest unless you count Max making a portrait of himself yesterday on his shorts. (thankfully in washable black). He still puts on shorts every single day no matter how cold it is. I have to bring him pants before we are to leave the house.

The dog stole one corndog but is behaving otherwise and has gone for 3 walks. Nothing new of consequence otherwise. Assuming anything thus far was of consequence.

Eeating Gouda

2009-01-11T14:35:00.000-08:00

Well, My Doc did it. He finished PA school. It was horrible and long and I know will all be worth it. It also means he's now gone. You see he has to go complete some other Army things now for the next 16 weeks. Thinks that have everything to do with him now being an officer. I might be able to see him if they have a few long weekends and spring break is looking like road trip possibilities for the boys and I. (Fingers crossed the weather will be good).
Now that he's gone, I have to upload lots of pictures, yes I know I will get to it. What else have we been doing? I'm glad you asked... Well lots of laundry. Its crazy, I know, but I think almost every single scrap of laundry is done, including sheets. Shocking, even to me. We made cupcakes and decorated them, watched a couple moves (Beethoven's Big Break and Click), I got a few pages from Disney Scrapped, we had lunch, hmmm....generally just hanging out.

Its been really nice that so many friends remembered me and checked in this weekend. Its nice to know they are thinking of me and certainly helps to hear from adults. The boys have been wonderful. We are pros at this, regardless of the fact we are happier with him home.

So what now. Now we are kicking back watching a little curious George and having some Gouda and Crackers. Yes, we are eating Gouda. Jack checked out a kids book once that had a whole Gouda thing going on in it and he lOVED that book and loves the cheese. I buy it for him and its a treat. Here we sit eating Gouda, waiting for the weekly grind to start back up and generally just taking things one day at a time.
I'm trying to not let the pressure of the fact we are moving to Germany upon Dad's arrival back home freak me out. Thankfully I have time, not that I wouldn't take him home now if I could.

Sooo I hope you are having a great Sunday, a good afternoon and maybe you have a little Gouda to snack on.

What size ID head do YOU want????

2009-01-07T16:16:00.000-08:00

Not much to report here. I'm enjoying oodles of time with my wonderful Doc before he leaves. Therefore I haven't got much to say. I have plenty to write about I just don't have the time to do it. I will therefore probably have lots to say NEXT week.

I therefore give you the conversation on the way to school:

Doc says to me, 'do you want me to hang onto your ID?' (being military we show our ID every time we go off and on post. We'd come back from errands and were going to head to lunch after dropping them off.
Moi-- 'Sure. that's fine. '
Max-- 'I want to see!'
Moi--'Daddy was just asking me about my ID'
Max-- "I want to see!'
Doc--' Here.' As he flashes it over his shoulder for Max to see behind him in the carseat.
Max--'Wow. That is a huge head.'

Doc and I start convulsing in laughter.

Max--'Mom, your picture, you have a huge head!'
Moi--' Thanks Max. It is a big head huh?'
Dad--'Max! You mean Mom's picture is big'
Jack--' When I get an ID I want to have a Gi-normous head!'
Max--'I don't.'
Moi--'Ok boys.'

Synopsis....Jack likes my ID with the close up of my head and would someday like an ID with an enormous head of his own. Max does not like it and would prefer a normal to small size head when he gets an ID. Now you know. For the record, now that its been pointed out to me...my head does look enormous on my ID. Must be cuz I'm so smart. Maybe.

Sunday Funnies

2009-01-03T21:12:00.000-08:00

I have a funny for you.
Max wets the bed. (Its ok if you aren't laughing I'm not to the funny part yet) You see he is a very light sleeper so we put diapers on him once he's asleep because he assures us every single night he does NOT need THOSE. He's much to big for those. Honestly he's been potty trained for 2 years. He doesn't really but he's such a hard sleeper he does for now. Not unusual. SO on to the funny part.
Early Friday morning the boys were being goofy and one of them said Mama mia. Probably, because of the movie but they were taking turns saying it funnily and Max's was by far the funniest. You see he says it sort of like a good Italian (of course!) but its a babyish voice. It was hilarious. That was early in the morning.

Now fast forward to after bedtime and they are all fast asleep. Doc goes in to put a diaper on him and he startled (you know like when a baby jumps in its sleep and throws up their hands) Well...he startled him and his reaction...He sort of jerks and blurts out 'MAMA MIA!' All while sleeping.
I'm not kidding. You can't teach a kid to do that. HILARIOUS!!
YOU are very welcome for the laugh now go read the funnies in the paper. ;)

New Year's Mystery

2009-01-02T06:00:00.000-08:00

What did we do on New Year's Eve... Played Clue!!

Ah, but the mystery is HOW did we play Clue. You see we received this game for Christmas and the boys love it!! In fact we all do. OK, so Max doesn't play so much but the rest of us have a pretty good time at it. Its a pretty simple game if you've never played but lots of fun. This led to the idea that they are old enough to see the movie. We are always looking for old and new family movies for Movie Night and this fit the bill.

Lucky for me I got it in time for New Year's Eve and the kids were thrilled to watch it. They 'sort of' helped get Christmas all put up and then we settled down with lots of snacks to watch. The verdict...Excellent. They had a blast watching and were really into it.

When it was over, they all were saying, 'lets play Clue, Let's Play clue!'

OK, OK I told them we had to clear the table off to play.

'No Mom,' they told me. 'Play here!' And Max pointed to the floor.

'Here in the house we can play the game on the coffee table you mean or just run around and play in the house?'

'Run Around. In the House!'

Ok, so for those of you who don't remember this 1985 flick, #1 go rent it. #2, there is a lot of running around in the movie and discovering clues and bodies. Particularly the end is them running from room to room rehashing the events of the evening and solving the mystery.

Therefore, I figured why the heck not. Why not make it a Clue evening. I mean at least we can pretty easily say what we did for New Years! So I put together a quick scavenger type hunt and they were up in arms the whole time so I mean really quick!! Then hid a few things and off we went. They went from the bathroom where the murderer was, found a clue through the kitchen that the murderer passed there. (the murder committed being they each got an animal and I layed them in the middle of the house and pretended to scream that they'd been murdered!) anyway, on to the family room, then up to the bedrooms where a weapon was found in each bed, off to the garage (where a leash was by the clue) and back to the office and the bodies where we discovered the dog was the culprit. (He was hungry you see and accidentally tried to eat the poor stuffed animals.)

The kids thought it was a riot and begged for more.
We watched Mama Mia instead and they informed me they could tell, 'It was not going to be good.' And then proceeded to sit through the whole thing. Go figure.

As a sidenote...today Jack made a scavenger murder mystery hunt for all of us and it was really funny. What a good little guy.

So there you have it... they mystery of How we spent New Year's is solved and I think several more scavenger hunts are in my near future.

Tagged with 8's

2009-01-01T10:12:00.000-08:00

Today's post is brought to you courtesy of my good friend Carol. She tagged me for sets of 8 and I fill in the fields with my 8 choices in each category. I need a little break from all the December recap and this is a refreshing change for the new year...Soooo here are my 8's. In honor of 2008 of course.

8 TV Shows I Watch
1. Heroe's
2. House
3. Lost (this one is a love hate, its sucks me in every time!)
4. Grey's Anatomy (as long as its a good episode but I can skip the sketchy ones, love the new Army Doc!)
5. Life on Mars
6. John and Kate Plus 8
7. Eli Stone
8. Um....Dancing with the Stars when I catch it.

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Jack Quinn's (Excellent Irish Food. I LOVE the Braised Beef Boxty)
2. Spaghetti Factory (Hello, Italian Food and fun for all!)
3. Stortini's (Only in the NW and they catered my Wedding, again Italian food!)
4. Carraba's (an Italian Chain)
5. Cheesy Janes (In only a few states. They have the best burgers, onion rings and shakes.)
6. Does the Canadian Steak house at Epcot count??
7. Hmm...Starbucks...that counts right?
8. Mi Casita (In NC) Great Margaritas and Mexican food.

8 Things that happened to me or I did today
1. Showered (hey its still early here)
2. Helped Doc with his packing list for OBC in Ft. Sill
3. Made a grocery list
4. Thought about running and put it off for later :)
5. Ate Mickey Mouse Pancakes
6. Folded 3 loads of laundry
7. Got out my Scrap stuff to do some Disney Pages
8. Kissed all my boys

8 Things I'm looking forward to
1. Moving to Germany!
2. Decorating a new house (new to me!)
3. Eating in an Irish Pub, IN Ireland.
4. Going to the town of Pettrano Sul Gizio where my Italian family is from
5. Swimming in Sardinia in the Summer
6. My passport arriving!
7. Improving my German
8. Enjoying my Doc as much as I possibly can since he'll be gone so much

8 Things I wish for
1. That my Dad visit me again before I move to Germany
2. That the finance department does a good job and all the changes are effective and correct!
3. That we travel safely and without incident to Europe
4. That we can pay off a lot more of our debt
5. That I had lots of time to read and they were good books (good one Carol!)
6. That I could eat all the Italian food and Chocolate I want and not gain weight (hey they are MY wishes!)
7. That my car runs good while Doc is away and I can sell it for a decent amount before going to Europe.
8. That my kids would now and forever more start going to bed without any delay, incidents or tantrums. (Again...they are my wishes...I can dream)

8 People I tag (I don't think I can come up with that many)
1. Jess
2. Meagan
3. Kandace (Hey I can try!)
4. Anyone who wants to do it too!

Christmas 2008

2008-12-26T18:26:00.000-08:00

This Christmas was in Colorado! We did take our lovely week long vacation to Florida but just as any good vacation goes, it was good to get home too. We started off with downloading the hundreds of Photos, throwing in the Vacation Laundry and Making Christmas Cookies! In all fairness I must confess we made a couple kinds of cookies BEFORE we left for Florida and froze them to have on our return. That way, we wouldn't be nuts trying to do it all. As usual...planning ahead was not a bad idea and really saved us time that allowed us to just have fun.

The boys and I decorating Sugar Cookies for Santa

Ready for church Christmas Eve. I got any combination of three but this was the best. I did get good individual ones but its taking me forever to download so I give you the best of the 3 combo. (Don't mind Max's tie, its in his pocket of course and he wanted to put on his airline wings)
Doc and I ready for Christmas Eve Mass too.

Home with some new Christmas PJ's, Mickey of course and sitting next to their water and carrots for the reindeer. The foreground is the cookies they made to put out for Santa.

Santa Came!! Christmas Morning with Stockings full and a Wii from Santa.

Our pretty tree!

My Rock Band Boys! Funny anecdote was that family knew Santa had been petitioned for a Wii and decided to buy games and accessories. Therefore they got lots of fun games. We had wrapped Guitar Hero from one Grandpa and put the Guitars in the closet. It was a bit much to have them out too so we thought we'd bring them out at the appropriate time. Well...Max opened two stocking stuffers and immediately went to go write a note to Santa that he loves him. He opened the closet and discovered the guitars right away simply because he was going to get out his markers. He was so Excited and it was really funny.

We opened gifts one at a time this year but there were a couple 'family' gifts that we had them all help open (see pic below). They loved it and were actually more interested in taking their turn to pass out the gifts they bought. Max right away wanted everyone to open what he got them and after we each took a turn opening what he got, Jack had to declare HIS were next to give us and then William. It was so heartwarming to see them say Thank You to each other with big hugs and I love you's. They really thought about what they got each other and us too. It was a whole new kind of thing this year with them so interested and involved in the giving.

My Wii happy boys. I went off to make some yummy Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast and to start my Turkey while they got down to business. They all love it. I have to admit it really is a lot of fun. It was a relaxing and wonderful Christmas full of love.

Merry Christmas 2008

2008-12-25T08:51:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all my friends and loved ones!!
I am making cinnamon rolls and watching my boys all play on the Wii Santa brought. I think its going to be Wii Mania around here for the next week. They are all in Love. Doc too!!
I will post the rest of the Disney Photos for Family and all to see after the Holiday. Right now we are just enjoying being together and relaxing at home. Its been a wonderful Christmas and the first where all 3 of our boys took great pride in getting gifts and giving them to each other. They were so proud to pass them out this morning. It was a very heart warming thing!

Next year we will be in Germany and Doc will probably be in Afghanistan. It will be an adventure and hopefully a wonderful time but for now it makes me really appreciate our quiet Christmas at home this year.
Feliz Navidaz, Joyeux Noel, Froehliche Weihnachten, Nollaig Shona Dhuit or Nodlaig mhaith chugnat, Natale hilare et Annum Faustum!, Buone Feste Natalizie, Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto, Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad, Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah, or as we say.....MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Disney World Recap (Day3-MGM Studios!)

2008-12-23T14:21:00.000-08:00

I apologize now for the way the pictures are loading. Blogger is making this difficult to get these. Anyway, Day 3 of our trip was day number two in the parks and we went to MGM Studios. Having 3 boys, they were very excited to go see the Indiana Jones Stunt Show and do Star Tours. The first thing we did was Star Tours and it was a big hit. We would usually grab Fast Passes for ones we loved, then would get on right then for a short wait and come back and do it again in a bit with the fast passes (Which allow you to go to the front with no waiting in line at your specific time...great way to redo faves!)
Jack is my huge Star Wars fan and loved it. He and the others went on again right away while Max and I went to get seats for Indy. Everyone enjoyed that. Its a live stunt show where they act like they are filming things for an Indiana Jones film and talk the crowd through the set up of each scene. Lots of fun in person and amusing too.

After that we got a snack and headed to Lights Motor Action. They redid cars for their action packed car stunt show. Lets just say it was very cool. Not my fave but amazing to see the meticulous stunt driving, cars spinning and chasing all within inches of each other and no mistakes.

After that it was just past lunch and things were pretty crowded. Most of MGM is shows or high speed, more adult rides (Tower of terror and Rockin Rollercoaster, which none of our boys were interested in) Luckily we knew to head over to the play house Disney area for a show. Unfortunately, we just missed seating for one but it worked out because the older two wanted a snack...pretzels and Max had spotted Handy Manny and was thrilled to go see him.

After that we saw the Little Mermaid show, which is partly people and partly puppets. It was a short little 15 minute thing but very kid friendly and fun. The bubbles coming down all over the theatre was a big hit!!

Then we went into the animation Studios. Here is a big tip if you've never gone to DisneyWorld...Don't skip the animation tour!! I did it once when I was 15 and they were still making films at this location with animation and cells they painted etc. I loved it. You listened to some info and walked through the building. The walkway was a little higher and had windows into the rooms where they were drawing, painting and meeting. It was fantastic. Well 4 years ago we went again and it was gone. They do everything on computer now but they had an intro and then you can see some old framed prints, but the real find is a drawing class with an animator and everyone gets a desk to sit down and they walk you through drawing a Disney Character. Last time it was Pluto. We really really wanted to do that again and this time it was better yet. They had the neat intro and then they redid the offices into a whole interactive area with computers you can play with sound, color, etc on. Plus they always had characters in there for pics and at the end, the drawing class. Most people skip the class because they don't realize but its only a 15 minute thing and WELL worth it. The best part is comparing how each persons characters turned out. They are always the so different but each one good in its own way.

Max at work on Dale. Our character for the class. EVERY family member gets to have a chair and draw.

Then Me and Doc posing with our good friends Mr. and Mrs. Incredible. ;)

Headed out to catch a boat over to the main monorails. We had reservations at Chef Mickey's that night but I'll post those pics next time. Its taken me awhile to just do this.

DisneyWorld Recap (Day2-Enchanted Kingdom!)

2008-12-22T16:00:00.000-08:00

On our last trip to Disney we were in the same time zone so we would get up early and go to the park with Magic Hours (you get in early if you are at a Disney Hotel or Shades of Green-The military hotel). This time, however, we were two hours behind, so that was not going to happen. I reasoned this was probably ok since we had tickets for several later things and getting up early wouldn't really help us. I mean who doesn't want to sleep in on vacation!!

Ok, so we HAD to start with Magic Kingdom because thats the classic one. You can't not see the castle and the best rides on the first day. We got there and headed straight to Tomorrow Land. I figured the boys wanted to do those things the most. We ran into Stitch on the way and got a few pics. We did the Buzz Lightyear ride...which was great as usual BUT I didn't count on the fact that the dark and noise and craziness would intimidate Max. He went into almost everything after this with a little trepidation. I think that might have been the case either way but who knows.

We hit Indy Racing next, which we all loved...and you get the picture...Teacups, over to Toon Town for Mickey's House, then the train over to Adventure Land. There we got to hit Pirates of the Carribean, the Tiki Room, (have some Ice Cream, well me and Max started while the others climbed through the trees on Swiss Family Robinson Style bridges etc) and head off to the castle for Lunch with the Princess.

So Cute!

Our table in the castle with my hansome princes.

We had pics with Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine, and Belle too but I like this one because later I asked Max about the Princesses and he told me one had really red stuff on her lips. I asked if he meant one had red lipstick. He said YA! So his favorites were the one with the pretty red lips and Cinderella of course.

The whole family with my more more well known twin sister, Cinderella. This is coming into the castle by the big Christmas tree. Soo pretty.

We finished out our day with some more rides (Haunted Mansion, Small World, running around the Huckle Berry Finn and Tom Sawyer Islands) ended up being in the right place after a show at the castle to sit down on the curb and wait for the Spectro Magic Parade... and back to the hotel. We were really lucky because our hotel happened to have a cafe type place that offered quick service meals (you know where the type they have in hospitals/schools etc, where you pick one of the items off the grill etc and pay for what you get) we had dinner there the night we arrived and after Magic Kingdom we ended up there again for a late dinner. I noticed not all the hotels had as extensive a setup and we figured out pretty fast how to use our food voucher package we paid for to the most benefit! This was a lifesaver and very convenient, especially with it so close to our rooms.

The boys climbing around some of the fun bridges.

My Prince William by the Castle. Soo pretty for Christmas.

DisneyWorld Recap (Day 1-travel)

2008-12-22T12:46:00.000-08:00

Day one…hour…Not sure.
We started our trip with snow on the ground. It only figures since I’d been thinking for days that I was ok trading snowy Colorado for Sunny Florida for a week. It’s what I get for not being even a little sorry for all the people who said they were jealous.
Needless to say that made an interesting drive to the airport. The benefit of two large trucks with 4 wheel drive is we had no problems and a major plus was Coffee for the road. We slipped and slid only a bit when we got to Denver, thanks to quite a bit more traffic but we avoided a 3 car fender bender and all the people around us did too as we all fishtailed to avoid it.
Now…we are still on the plane at 4:15 Mountain time and 6:15 East coast, which was supposed to be our arrival. WHY? Well, because we had to wait in line to de-ice the plane before take-off and then get in line to Taxi on to the runway.
The flight itself. Not bad. Max slept a good hour. Thankfully. He’s colored nicely, I got to watch Sister Hood of the Traveling Pants II and Doc has the other boys across the aisle from me. I realize this won’t post until far later than I typed it but, once my movie ended and Max is into his project, I was bored, therefore no time like the present to catch up on blogging. Here you have installment one of our Disney World trip and we haven’t even landed in Florida yet. We are looking forward to warm clear, albeit dark skies when we land around 7pm and a lot of fun to come…Pics too I promise.

Later...
This is a picture of the Water Wheel at our hotel. We stayed at Disney's Port Orleans Riverside Hotel. It was made up of lots of buildings and each was supposed to look like a riverside plantation. That makes it sound nicer than it was. It WAS nice but they were all alike. The rooms were average. The service good. The location of 'our' room...EXCELLENT!! We were really lucky and got a building right near the main building (with the restuarants, shops, front desk, etc) and one of the Bus pick ups to take us to the parks. Some people really would have had to hoof it from quite aways back to get to a depot for pick up and/or ride buses to get to the main building. We didn't have that problem. Hooray!! This was taken from the bridge over the river. In the center is an island with a pool, hot tub, kiddie pool and a park area.

Jack on the Disney Airport Bus that delivered us to Disney and then back to the airport!

We're Going to Disney World

2008-12-13T14:49:00.000-08:00

30 months spent on PA school. Three Moves. Numerous late late late nights. Lots of stress, Lots of work, and little accolades. One more bachelors and a Masters degree. Lots of single parenting, not a lot of thanks and lots of alone time no matter which task you had. The results...we are finally done with the PA program.

What does this mean...WE ARE GOING TO DISNEYWORLD!!!

Serioiusly. No really, we are. We are going to Disneyworld!! Congrats to ourselves and the work and the time and the energy. Now we are off to Disney to treat our kids and ourselves to some much needed R&R as a payoff to many sacrifices and work made by ALL of us so that we can succeed at our dreams and the path to a better life. What better place to start than the place where dreams come true.
SOoooo, We love you. We probably won't miss you (sorry) and we'll be back in a week!!

School volunteer

2008-12-11T12:58:00.000-08:00

I love schools. Actually, I love hospitals too. I don't know why but if I had to be somewhere all day, an office could never cut it for me. I need to be where there is action. Things happen, people to cure and/or colorful glue art on the walls. Ok, I'm really generalizing but you know what I mean right?

Anyway, I volunteer every week at the school. I've always volunteered in some format. Either room mom or holiday parties or some such thing. This year I go in every Thursday and help out. Mostly I assist in the 5th grade class because its the one that needs the help! I figure that works out since he won't soon and I have years to be in the other classes. I do centers sometimes with Kindergarten and as much as I love the Pre-K they just don't need me. They have a teacher and two assistants who shuffle and guide and watch the special needs kids etc. Its really not beneficial to my child to be in on that one because I'm a wall flower. Ok so back to 5th grade.

Mostly I keep them up to date or ahead on all work to be copied. I collate, copy, staple. You know. Guess that year as an office manager and playing with all the fun office toys is paying off. Not that anyone really couldn't do it. Sometimes I color things, cut things out (as a helper I promise, not for fun!). I even coordinated all the help, food and games for the Halloween party that got canceled due to bad behavior. So much for 'that' work.

The thing is, that every single Thursday I debate not going. I just think of other things I could get done and time spent without rugrats and such. Its so tempting. Besides 1. its not my job to go in so its not like anyone will mind if I don't 2. I have a million things to always do so why not do THOSE things. (this is what I tell myself)

The reality...I go in. I stay. I say Hi to teachers I know, chat with them, see volunteers. I'm in the mix. I might not want to be but, as soon as I sign in and turn around to walk down the hall, I feel good. Not just good but great. I enjoy being there. Everyone is so kind and glad I could help out. I really really enjoy the change and feeling like I'm doing something ELSE. Ironic that every single week I debate not going but I'm never sorry I did. Not sure how that happens but I guess when I get in a rut as I just might do when Doc is gone for weeks and weeks. I need to remember to at the very least go to the school. There is always things to do and that change and people (the adult kind I see there that appreicate me) are so refreshing.

So yes, I'm a Mom to Three Monkeys. I Volunteer. AND I think I like it.

New Game

2008-12-10T07:40:00.001-08:00

This is a new game from Candy over at My 3 Girls. Choose the 4th folder in your photos, go to the fourth photo etc. Then post the picture and tell the story. In my case my 4th folder was 2005 and within that my 4th folder was April. Then I had several folders in April and in this folder this is my fourth photo!
This is Maximus after bath in 2005. He was about 7 months old. There is actually a story here. My oldest son was so happy one day after a bath and I had the camera nearby so I snapped a picture that turned out beautifully. I turned it to black and white and framed it. Then I tried to get something similar when Jack was an infant. You see the trend here so this was some of a series I took of Maximus after bath one night, trying to capture a good one of him. I got lots!!
So there you have it. Its the only set I have displayed of my boys all at the same age. They each are lying on their tummies after bath and smiling.
Ok, so now to tag 4 people to play along...Hmmm. I can't remember who Candy tagged so I might overlap.

1-Wilson's House-Jess
2-Peanut and Chicken -Heather
3-Touch of Caous-Kandace
4-Alotta Boys-Carol

Santa or NOT to Santa

2008-12-09T09:48:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking about the topic of Santa and his impending visit and all the implications. You see I have two children who are watching movies and seeing messages that reiterate how real and magical he is! I agree with them too. I still love the idea of Santa and the magic. I always leaned toward anything magical or the idea of it growing up...and lets face it Santa is like the king of magical ideas.
Now I am finding myself answering questions about how can he be St. Nicholas, Santa Clause, Kris Kringle etc. Its not that I don't have really good responses, but somehow you just want to throw your hands up and say 'SURPRISE!!! It's all ME! Aren't you impressed! Aren't you so thankful I love you SOOO much.'

Ok, I don't really want to do that, but the faces would be priceless when I said it. No no, bad idea. Really we sort of blow it off, simple answers etc. We tell them our Christian beliefs. We try to impart the thoughts of giving and Jesus and all that the holiday means that brings 'meaning' to it. Regardless of how much they 'get' that, its doesn't really hold up to the Santa guy at this age. I mean MAGIC, going down chimney's, flying reindeer?! What DOES live up this time of year.

Now the oldest loved it. He loved it all. He even got to be old enough to probably deduce that it was not a fat jolly guy giving him gifts but Mom and Dad. He actually kind of got fanatical about it. Now we let this go for a couple years. We let it happen and wondered if we should break the bubble. I mean the fanaticism was probably fighting to NOT let himself see the truth but then you start to wonder if that's healthy and maybe we can focus on the giving and caring for people rather than elves and how many carrots reindeer need and being obsessive. So we did it. We broke the bubble. Or I should say I gently broke the bubble in response to few things. At first there was denial, then anger.

Yup, he was actually MAD at ME!! Me, the one who bought the presents and wrapped them and made special glittery tags that seem to only come on Santa gifts. ME who made hours worth of cookies so he could leave the perfect one for 'Santa'. Me who bought special 'reindeer' carrots at the store. Ok, so you get my point.

After a week or two of distress and anger and 'why would you do that Mom.' I gave up. I said, you know what. Forget what I said. Believe. Believe in anything you want. I mean you'd think I took away the world!! But seriously this kid was going to get the Shit kicked out of him if he didn't calm down with his Santa fanaticism. I thought I was doing him a favor and of course trying to move us back over to the good side. The caring and sharing and loving and showing people this time of year that you feel all that for them.

Now. Today. Now, I don't know what he thinks. Being that the bubble was broken a couple years ago. I know he doesn't say. He obviously knows the truth but will never utter it. He plays there is a Santa. He even has a 'time' that Santa appears on Christmas Eve. He puts out the facade that its all 100% true.

Now, I don't have a problem with this. I have always done the facade. I don't recall a year when I didn't. Now, it all holds it together for the little ones. They are building these magical thoughts and of course that sense of wonder on Christmas when things 'appeared' from Santa. I feel sad though. Partly, that I couldn't be the consoler when he figured it out and instead I was the bad guy. Partly because I see the new beliefs forming in the littler boys and I like it but I also worry about valuing a fat guy in a red suit over the idea of giving. If the magic for a few years is worth the fall when they find out its not true.

I say its worth it. Not because I don't want to deal with the fall but because I can't take away the magic. Maybe it will make them less cynical in life. Maybe it will make them more creative, maybe it will make them willing to make people happy because they know that even make believe can make you smile.
I just can't take away their introduction to the idea that things can be magical. Its not out of thin air but created by people who want to make something magical for someone else. Maybe someday they'll sit in a movie theatre and see something that makes them think...maybe. Maybe there is more, more out there, more in life more to believe in. If it gives them a taste of that, then I can't do it. I can't break the facade. I am not looking forward to the bubble breaking but I am going to close my eyes and pretend. I'm going to wholehearedly just believe because I have to hope that they will believe in magic no matter how old they get and how disappointed they become along the way.

Happy Birthday to my Sister!!

2008-12-08T10:27:00.000-08:00

My sisters Birthday is today. I haven't called her yet, but the plan is to do that after I drop the kids at school, therefore having a fairly uninterrupted conversation since only one kid is home all day.
Sooo who is my sister...
She is a very patient, and happy person. She is a great Aunt to my boys in all respects. She never forgets about their Birthdays or Holidays for them. They always have a great time playing with her and it never ceases to amaze me that she patiently hangs out with them for several hours when they do have the rare opportunity to get together. She listens to them and just takes happiness from the things they do and say. She is a great Aunt!

She is also a great daughter. My Mom is dying very slowly from a rare and degenerative disease. She has progressed to the point of needing full time care and my sister is the one to provide that care. She endlessly takes care of her, feeds her and makes sure they get out each week. Without my sister, my Mom would have to be in a home or have a stranger taking care of her. That's not a horrible thing, its practical, but knowing my Mom, I know that if she still understands her surroundings or even if she doesn't that ultimately she would be so happy to know its a loved one watching out for her and not a stranger. She never was too big on strangers but having her daughter there for her means everything.
She's also a great daughter to my Dad by not just helping with my Mom but being there to discuss, figure out my Moms care and being a shoulder for him. They are a great care team and I know how much it means to my Dad to not be the only one handling it all.

She's a Fantastic Grand-daughter too! Yes, my grandmother is also in a home close to my sister with Alzheimer's. She is well cared for there and I know it's good for her to see a friendly face. Its my sisters face often and I'm glad that when it comes to holidays she's there for my Grandmother to make it more of an occasion and not as lonely as it could be.

I can always trust my Sister to think of the movie moment I'm forgetting or fill me in on details of a good show I might have missed. If I need to know these things, I know there is no better person to call. She also loves a good celebrity tidbit so I its nice to share those with her.

She is meticulous in a way I'm not. I would never do things the way my sister does. I have to have a list and plan but somehow my sister gets everything done just as well in her own way and time. I don't understand her methods but I do realize they are every bit as efficient.
She is the one person in the World who grew up in the same places and times I did. We moved together, played together, worked our first jobs together and were on the same sports teams. I guess that's the benefit of not just having a sibling but having one close in age. You share more of the same experiences than siblings that are more removed in age.

My sister has never once acted in a jealous or spiteful way towards me. I was the kid sister who was always trying to catch up to her but no matter how hard I tried or how close I got she has never once been a jealous sibling. She has never made it seem like a negative thing or showed anything but happiness for my accomplishments. Not many people can say that. Even if she wasn't always happy in her heart, I would not have known it. She made it possible for me to persue my dreams, weather similar or different from hers, without feeling like we were ever competing. A true friend in her happiness at the things I share. She is a great sister!!

She is a great person and I hope she has a Wonderful Birthday because she deserves it!!! Happy Birthday Erin!!

Its Snowing!

2008-12-04T09:04:00.001-08:00

I know. Big shocker in Colorado. But seriously we get snow about once a week here where we live and even then its not usually more than a couple inches. Its novel enough for me to think its beautiful. Add to fact I don't mind driving in it when I'm not crossing mountain ranges. That part I dread. Loathe, seriously fear! Ok, enough about mountain ranges though. I'm not driving anywhere this winter.
Anyway, Fast Internet, hot cup of coffee, heat cranking out of the vents and a gorgeous view of 'my' mountain and snowing slowly. Its just gorgeous. Had to share. Oh and the fact that its 18 degrees, not likely to get more than a degree or two warmer today so every time one of my kids leaves a door open I can feel it without getting up from current spot. Makes the Mom mystique more solid. You know..eyes in the back of my head. Door open without seeing it. Yup, I like anything that increases my mystique.

Thanksgiving Recap

2008-12-03T10:19:00.000-08:00

I wanted to post some Thanksgiving photos before now but the last couple of days every time I've tried to upload to Blogger I've had problems. Go figure. Anyway, its been almost a week now but here are a few pictures of our Feast.

Our setup for the big day

Be boys helped a lot the day before! They each chopped up a loaf of bread for stuffing. Each using their own method I might add. Max chose to tear it. Jack used cooking scissors and William opted to cut with a knife. They all did great. They also each helped with the apple pie and making Fluff (a pistachio pudding and pineapple dish)
This is just one photo of some of our gingerbread house decorating. I'm not sure had more fun, the kids or the parents helping. They all really loved this and took home their houses.

A picture our our feast. Forgive this shot, some of us are blurry and some eating. Oops. It was wonderful and just as the kids asked to be excused...it started snowing!! They all ran to put on coats and run around out back while the adults got to sit and chat awhile longer at the table. Magical!

Pied Piper Nadeem

2008-12-03T09:44:00.000-08:00

This is Nadeem.

He is my 8 year old Siberian Husky.

This is the rat he caught today. This is the second one since the weather has gotten cold.

This is him making sure the area was clear after catching that varmint.
This is Maximus, the commander, trying to pose proudly with our champion but they were both awfully wiggly.

Can you say best dog ever?!!! Ok, maybe not the best ever. HE does tend to run off if the front door has an opening big enough for him to get through AND more recently does not even get in the car when I go to retrieve him. In every other respect though he is a great and wonderfully behaved dog. Not only that but apparently he knows when a rat is near. He smells them!! Yesterday he started pawing at the trunk again and running all around it trying to dig under and behind etc. Today, he went out in the morning as usual but each time he'd grow restless very fast and have to get back out to that trunk. Now the last time this happened it took a week but he DID catch a huge rat and proudly tossed it about for me to see. This time I moved the trunk and was poking things under with him and out ran a rat. He pounced and voila! No more rat. I am so relieved he smells them right away because with it being cold and them getting so close I can only imagine them trying to get INSIDE the house. Ick!! Thankfully, he catches them before that and if one should get in, I have no doubts he'd find it quick.

Hooray for Good Doggies!

Mom to School aged Kids

2008-12-02T12:02:00.000-08:00

I have three boys. One is eleven, then five, then four. So I've been a Mom for 11 + years and been running kids back and forth to school for 6 years. This year, for the first time, they are all in school. Now, they don't go all day everyday. In fact they are only, 'sort of' all in school. You see two only go half days. Only the second half of the day and of those two, one only goes four days a week and Thursdays is early day for all. Now I'm getting carried away trying to explain this but basically this equals about 9 hours a week with NO kids. Amazing, I know.

Now, the last week before Thanksgiving they started riding the bus. The two older ones together and the youngest on the preschool bus. I still have to run in at lunch to drop them off but this means a whole extra hour and a half a week with me not having to leave early and pick up.

I did feel guilty and put it off, then the weather started getting cold and they were begging to ride and I caved. The funny thing is that once I caved I started to feel better and better about it. Not just good but great in fact. I started to get excited about not fighting the traffic, leaving early, getting that extra Hour and Half a week. I pictured me waiting at the door, arms open with a big smile and maybe with a pretty apron, a plate of warm freshly baked cookies on the table. Ok, so my mind got away from me. The apron and cookies haven't happened but the big arms and smile do. And you know what..the kids are ok. They love the bus. I love the bus! It's hard to believe.

For six years I dropped off and picked up for the most part. Almost that entire time a younger sibling was along. For awhile it was two in a stroller, the a couple of rowdy toddlers. I won't say it wasn't full of stress at times. Also, keep in mind we are a military family so this whole epic evolved from school to school and state to state. This year its strange and exhilarating to drop them off and not have a toddler running around. Its strange not to have a little buddy that I leave with. I don't think I'm sad, I'm too excited for them and me to be sad, but it does feel weird.

I am not the Mom with the stroller. I am not pregnant. I am the Mom with the older kids. I remember being the pregnant Mommy. I remember being in the stroller brigade. Then the desperate trying to contain my toddler crew. It seemed like forever and lets face it, stressful. I know we had fun too. Probably more so when I learned to give up and just let them stop at the park on the way home until they were exhausted and WANTED to go home too. It was probably the best to be in the stroller crew because they were strapped down but those days I could walk it. I have not enjoyed the car battles one bit. That has never seemed to work nicely and really takes forever and is a battle to get them in and out. But that's not me now!! I am free of that. In fact I like this whole bus thing so much I might be sad if/when it has to end. They love it. I get more time and everyone is happy. How can that be wrong?

I am not the Mom with the youngest kids. I don't lean towards the new Mommies with babies in common anymore. I might not be that old but I'm in the older Mom crew now. I hang with the seasoned veterans of the school routine and frankly I look back and find myself a little shocked by the reality I'm NOT in the Baby crew. I know it only takes one parent to go off chasing a toddler, screaming at them to get off a wall or struggle to get the baby out in the wind/rain and I think I am so relieved that's NOT me. Not anymore. Its actually getting easier and I'm surprised. I'm not sure if I'm ready for it but gosh darn it I'm enjoying it. So what, if I don't have the youngest in tow anymore. We are a school age family now and its whole new and exciting and just a little bit easier world for us.

My favorite Watering Hole

2008-11-28T06:00:00.000-08:00

Well, I get regular emails from military.com and they had an article about the top military watering holes. Basically, the favorites around the U.S. and Abroad. I thought it might be interesting to take a look and see if I knew of any of the places. Low and behold I not only know of but the #2 spot is our favorite hang out! We can't get enough of Jack Quinn's! I keep talking about going out and seeing bands, etc. Well this is where it all happens and the food is pretty great too.
My fave...the braised Beef Boxty with a Blacksmith to drink. Just thought it was pretty neat that they should be listed!

http://www.military.com/entertainment/offbeat/top-ten-classic-military-spots-to-drink-beer

Recipe Traditions

2008-11-27T06:00:00.000-08:00

Do you have any favorite family recipes you'll be cooking today? I know some people do and some are adapted. Some recipes we change to make our own and some come from friends. I had a friend ask me for a recipe lately and tell me that even after years of marriage her inlaws still won't entrust her with several family favorites. I could say this surprises me, but it doesn't. My Mom notoriously did not give out her recipes. In some ways I understand this but on the other hand slap your name on it and get that baby out there! I mean you don't have to give it to everyone but then again if you give it to no one then how does that really last in the end?

My husbands family is great about handing on recipes. In fact they are just thrilled that I would want them much less use them. I can't say I've used them all but I DO have them, so who knows one day I might use it.

I have an excellent Dutch Apple Pie recipe. It is the best pie I have ever had. In fact many people tell me its the best apple pie they have ever had. Seriously, its yummy! Now, it IS a family recipe so I'm not trying to brag. Its simply the one I grew up with and it happens to be delicious. Its my Mom's Apple Pie recipe but for all I know it came out of an old Betty Crocker book. It could have! I have no idea. I just know its the one I use.

You might say I'm cynical so let me share a little 'family recipe' story for you. Go back to mine and Docs first married Thanksgiving. The one I cooked for us and a couple soldiers. Yes, I did it all but I also baked cookies. We love to bake cookies and give out plates with numerous varieties to friends at the holidays. Its another tradition my parents did and Doc and I do now. Strangely, I don't recall ever receiving any from anyone else. Anyway, I digress.

We were sitting around making cookies on one of his rare days off around that holiday. We were making Gingersnaps, which I love, and my family never had a recipe for. We are following a scratched out paper that has his 'family' recipe written on it. I innocently ask about this 'family' recipe. He mentions making it for years and we are talking warmly. I was sitting at the table about 20 weeks pregnant with our Jack and look up at the Molasses jar in front of me. It has a pretty holiday tag and recipe on the back. I looked at it and its for Gingersnaps. After on glance, I think, this is really familiar.

'What was in that family recipe of yours?' I ask

He vaguely responds and I say, 'No, exactly what's in it?'

He starts to read it and then realizes I'm comparing as I respond with, 'uh huh, right and...'

He starts to become amazed and reads on. Then didn't even have to ask as I start laughing hysterically. Turns out that the ol'family recipe comes right off the back of a Brer Rabbit molasses bottle. Yup.

I hysterically told him that either that Rabbit STOLE his family recipe or its really Not that unique. To this day we have to take 'traditional recipes' with a grain of salt. If its good enough to be a family recipe it must be good and we all love a good recipe, so why not share the wealth. Then again you never know when that fabulous new dish might come right off the back of a jar.

Security Breech

2008-11-26T06:00:00.001-08:00

Many of you know that my Monkeys are also WMD's. For those of you not familiar, that is Weapons of Mass Destruction.

We try to keep all areas clear of possible damage. We erect anti weapon devices or at least deterrents. We provide security details and distractions for the WMD's. The maintenance crew has become more adept over time or perhaps the force of the weapons has declined. There seems to be less actual detonations these days but when there are, the level of destruction can, at times, be truly amazing.

We do need to report that there has been a security breech of serious proportion. Our crews, are at times deployed to various locations and the local contractors are often left short handed. This leaves greater degrees of opportunity for destruction. We had such an occurrence during the most recent decreased staff coverage.

These incidents occurred at approximately 4:30, 4:45, 5:30, sometime between 5:30 and 6, then again at 7 pm and 7:40. Yes, we do realize the situation escalated.
The first encounter involved the need to play on station set up for Thanksgiving food service. This appeared to be adequate play area for WMD's not buffet tables. It then became a grocery store and food was subsequently mashed with toy nut cracker made available due to the holidays. The incident was reported and handled.

The next incident involved food yet again, when said food was run at great speed, off the end of treadmill because such a joyous moving piece of plastic makes excellent launcher for WMD's and/or looks just like the moving belt at the grocery store. This was again handled and in the process of being remedied when WMD's managed to infiltrate a snack pack of Peanut Butter and coated said weapons for unknown purposes. We believe that rubbing peanut butter through hair, I mean main housing of all logic systems, could be a way to either make them seem more harmless or just make them faster. Regardless this was handled swiftly and the suggested bathroom sink cleanup avoided by disposing of all WMD's to shower.

Shower hour was mildly successful with only one wasted bottle of shampoo, made available to totally neutralize the effects of earlier coating. The dunking and holding underwater of WMD's was performed by WMD's themselves and we suspect efforts and improving their own stamina and expertise. This was aborted by security detail.

This left the task of lockdown of WMD's for the night. Once PJ's were selected after much thought, discussion, argument and capitalization, the cleaning of teeth was attempted. This was thought to be successful but apparently WMD's completed covert operation during said cleaning by absconding with numerous band-aids. Band-Aides were applied to all facial features of one WMD by other WMD, thereby removing all facial features. Again we suspect this was a disguise technique being attempt. We acknowledged such attempt and the WMD's retreated with snickers and giggles.

The final incident occurred when one WMD decided to instruct the younger on appropriate spelling of names. This was attempted by procuring pens and paper from activity closet. Little did the security forces realize (or perhaps naively did they trust) them to not take other objects. Once sign was finished and ready to display, no less than half a bottle of glue was used to GLUE it to the WMD holding facility.

We are happy to report that the facility was furthermore locked down and WMD's tucked in for the night. They are currently snickering in individual beds while lone security office tries to estimate how long she can manage said job AND suspects that during later and longer deployment by other officers, she might very well be taken down by the WMD's.

Eating alone, but not

2008-11-25T08:07:00.001-08:00

The boys are home from school...ALL WEEK. Actually, this is a good thing. Its kind of fun to have them home and the truth is then I don't have to run them to school and do the whole routine. We slept in this morning and we can play the day away. Oh except for the fact that Daddy Doc won't be home for two days. Yup, he is working all day today and tomorrow but after his normal shift he is then pulling ER shifts both nights. Therefore, he will technically be home between 10:30 pm and 6 am to sleep but its not like we will see him. Ok, I MIGHT see him but considering this leaves me the task of fun kid activities, organization, regular cleaning, plus cooking for the big day...Thanksgiving. I'm not exactly feeling like staying up to catch up on my day. The good news is I don't have to add the school run around into the mix!

The boys and I sat around having lunch yesterday. Generally I hate making more than one lunch. Our options include, PB&J, Turkey Sandwich, Mac & Cheese, or Corndogs. Yup, that pretty much sums it up unless we have tasty leftovers someone is willing to eat. Doc occasionally makes the mistake of giving them the list of options. I don't'. My list involves what we have and what I'm willing to make...one option. Yesterday, however, we each had a leftover or sandwich and it was fairly easy. What was so funny was to all be sitting around mutually enjoying our meals (unusual to all be here for lunch but more so that everyone was eating.) It was really nice to eat my meal and have an 'enjoyable' meal with my kids'.

Its not that I don't love them but if you ever spend a significant amount of time eating with just kids you realize that the conversation is mostly on the listening side for you and the eating part would mean you aren't running around. Its not always very fun. Then again maybe just being novel is what made it ok. Ask me again after the next two days with only kids and no adults and I might not think it went so well. I'm hoping its partially because they are getting older. That does seem to change the dynamics. Maybe its wishful thinking and just not wanting to devolve into TV picnic night every single night that Doc is gone for four months. Ya, I know its wishful thinking. Ask any military wife and I've come to realize its normal. Yup, we all do it. People complain about hubby gone for a few nights but try months! Its novel to do the picnic a few times, but before you know it every single night is spent eating in front of TV. Hey, don't judge until you are the only person doing all the cooking, cleaning and most of the eating for weeks and weeks on end.

Yes, we had a good meal. I know. Its only one. I'm hopeful though. I can't help it. I'm a hopeful person. Perfection is what I strive for. See that is my control, organization and always trying to do better. I'm 'hopeful' that maybe this next separation we won't have the 5 food groups every night and maybe just maybe the TV won't always be on. Its a good few days of testing. Who knows.
(oh and those 5 food groups involve, Pizza, Chicken nuggets, Hotdogs, Mac & Cheese and I throw in Salad. Mix and match for your combos.) Hey, its what happens when you become a single Mom who does it all!! Super Moms survive on this stuff. Its a proven fact.

I'm delinquent

2008-11-21T14:07:00.000-08:00

I know I should be posting, AND I have plenty to post about, but alas I've been delinquent. I have my birthday celebrating to elaborate on. My boys latest happenings or the monkeys as I like to call them. The family visiting. Just all the latest thoughts and things in the works.

I have no excuses. I have simply been delinquent. If I were in school I'd be going to the principals office. Then again if I was in school I was an overachiever and this would never have occurred. I would then have come up with no less than two very exciting, funny, scintillating accounts of various events. Therefore...I'm slipping. Hmm, I could blame old age but I refuse. Instead I happen to think I'm better than ever, just a little off track. I promise, I will be back on track now. There is just too much going on not to be. If I'm not there will be too many things NEVER to be posted and then that would be D student work and I'm an A+ girl.

There you have it. I confess delinquency but promise to get my work together and turned in!
(As a Post Script my previous post on Tradition did win a contest I entered it for so although I have late work its still HIGH QUALITY!)

All American Animals Thanksgiving

2008-11-15T10:46:00.000-08:00

Carrie, over at Candid Carrie, wrote a heartwarming post about traditions in family and how they come to us. Maybe hers touched me so much because it was so simple.

We are a military family so we don't really have available to us the means or the time to travel back to family each year for things like reunions, annual Christmas parties or regular outings. Instead we have each other and that is something I treasure. It makes us close but I figured out early on that although I wanted to start family traditions within my own nuclear family that they weren't just fun, they were necessary. Its hard on kids and even us parents to move over and over and over. Don't get me wrong I love to travel, meet new friends and find new places but the things that we can continue to do no matter where we go are our own traditions. I knew we had to have our own routines that we used year after year no matter where we went that could be our own and be part of our family.

My favorite tradition is Thanksgiving. I know you are thinking, 'nice lady. We all celebrate Thanksgiving.' But you probably don't do it like us. You see way back before my Doc and I were married we didn't live together. We went from one families house to another on Thanksgiving Day. We had some relatives who were so nice and sweet and said we could come or not, they'd love to have us but they understood our pull between everyone. We had other relatives who acted like it would be a serious breech of feelings and time and allegiance if we did not show up. Welcome to FOUR YEARS of traveling from house to house on Thanksgiving. No sitting with full stomach and unzipping our pants in abandon, no post dinner stupor. Nope, we had to head out to the next house. It was ridiculous. I hated it.

Even in our premarital counseling (required by our church) this came up on our matching tests as an issue between us. I wanted a decision and my Doc, true to form, did not want to offend anyone. It was that spring day 6 and half years ago that he promised me something. When we were married we would NOT leave the house on Thanksgiving. We would only hold it at our house and if you want to come great. If not, then we understand too, but we are staying home. You see we had all the other holidays figured out it was just this one that was never going to make everyone happy so instead we would make ourselves happy.

Then we joined the military. We moved. We moved a lot and that first year we were together, but mostly apart and on Thanksgiving I single handedly cooked dinner for him, our son and two other soldiers who would not get to go home that year. It was sad and pathetic but it was our own. Add a year to our lives and another state and we realized that its one of those Holidays many who can drive home do but there are always people who cannot. We did not want to leave the house but we had no where to go anyway. We took a look around and realized that people (some we only knew casually also didn't have anywhere to go).
It was that year that we decided we would invite two new families over. We did and we played board games and rented Christmas movies to fall asleep over during Pie (a tradition my Mom started 20 years early while board to tears at my own grandparents) and everyone brought a traditional dish. It was small and warm and wonderful. It was our tradition. Every year since then we invite at least two families over. We always make sure at least one is new to us. A family we don't know that well but who also has no where to go on Thanksgiving.

I Love Thanksgiving dinner now.
We have perfected our Turkey. Everyone loves it!! We have incorporated dishes from families along the way who bring their own traditional things. We decorate Gingerbread houses as a kids activities. The kids help with all the prep the day before and we dance around listening to Christmas Music and looking forward to eating all of our creations. We know our children count on it to be a wonderful day and we know that now matter where we live we can always find a couple families who want to come. It is my favorite of many family traditions we do, wherever we go. Who knows...maybe next year we'll introduce a few German Families to a good Ol'American Thanksgiving. The All American Animals kind of way!

Now if you have a tradition to share or want to join in Candid Carrie's Contest then head over to her site. Even if you don't you'll love her story on Snowflake cakes!

Happy Birthday...to ME

2008-11-13T08:56:00.000-08:00

I was going to write about 30 things I have accomplished today. Then I started getting Happy Birthday wishes and today have at least half a dozen more already. Instead it just makes me thankful so I am listing 30 things I am thankful for on my birthday.

1. My wonderful husband who loves me so much
2. My son William because he is so smart and inquisitive.
3. My son Jack because he's so funny and quick thinking.
4. My son Maximus because he loves to cuddle and take care of everyone.
5. That my children are all healthy.
6. For being able to stay home and do so many things with my kids.
7. For my Opals. If you aren't one then you won't understand but if you are then you all know how much I love you girls!
8. For all my friends far and wide. They never fail to understand my life because we all live such crazy ones in the military.
9. For my Dad because he always visits me no matter how far away or how much money it costs and because he loves ME so much.
10. For my Siblings who need me in their own quirky ways and because they remind me of family.
11. For having my husband here so much this year. We never take our time together for granted in the military.
12. For getting to see so many great things in the World. I can't wait to settle down but in the meantime I love getting to travel like I've always dreamed.
13. For having Faith.
14. For having a positive outlook.
15. For my crazy dog who in his own way gives us a normal family aspect we adore.
16. For living in a country where I have so many choices.
17. For having great Health Care. (Hey, some people don't)
18. For old friends I have found anew and the fact that they remember me in some way.
19. For my extended family
20. For Starbucks (no seriously, I love getting myself a little latte love)
21. For having a car that runs. (whenever it has trouble I'm reminded how much I rely on it and am thankful I don't have trouble with it)
22. For the opportunity not to just go to Europe but to take my Children.
23. For all the tools in my daily life that make my days easier.
24. For all the holidays that we celebrate with our kids.
25. For all the days that aren't actual holidays that we use as an excuse to celebrate something anyway...just because we can. (if you ever live near me long enough you'll find out what I mean)
26. For phone calls from friends who just call to say 'HI'
27. For knowing how much I have to look forward to
28. For a family that loves the water as much as me and never gets tired of it.
29. For patience. I sometimes think I've run out but then it reappears.
30. For a wonderful life that is only 30 years in.

Friendly Reminder...

2008-11-10T19:24:00.000-08:00

We have official orders now which means that one of the 373 things to do before relocating our family of five to Europe is to actually get passports. This got me thinking that if YOU (that goes to anyone thinking about it) are going to visit me then YOU need a passport too. Therefore, since it takes several months to get and a nice chunk of money I'm giving you a friendly reminder now so that someday you can all come visit me. Save up, set out to get them (oh and get a haircut first or make sure its not a rainy day because that photo will be on there for YEARS) and get your darn passports. You never know when you might want to take a little jaunt to Europe and then we could have a rendezvous.
Because you know once I say 'European rendezvous' you start to become intrigued.
You start to think that could be fun.
In fact there was those things you always wanted to do...like______(fill in your blank appropriately).
Therefore, you will need a passport.
So hurry up...start planning.
You can thank me for the reminder when we meet up abroad. ;)

Home in 2008

2008-11-06T09:06:00.000-08:00

Its hard to believe its already November. It seems like just about the time its easy to embrace the chronological date of the new year...2008...its almost over. This has been our year in CO. We arrived here to break in 2008 in guest housing on Fort Carson. It was snowy and cold and exciting. We moved into our new house in a hurry and already we've almost been here for a year.

I like to look back on each year and think of the things we did. I think that's easier to do when you move often. When you stay in the same place you count the moments that are the same...we did x..y..and z again. When we move a lot as we have recently, I tend to look at each year as my one opportunity to say we've done things in THIS place. Soon we'll leave our place and have a whole new one to explore but I would hate to look back and think, 'what did we do there and what did we see?' I don't want to remember each place as only a place in transition. I want to remember each place because of the things we did and the things we saw.

I want to remember the school year in that place. I want to remember how we spent our summer in that place. I want to remember the new things we can only see and do in that one place. I think we've been very successful in doing that. The other and maybe easier or harder thing is to have the traditions in those places too.

Some Army friends will always tell me about visiting family every year and enormous family reunions they CAN'T miss. I know that isn't everyone but they also don't necessarily embrace where they are because they never really think of it as home. My home is Where the Army Says it is. (Just read the plaque hanging by my front door). My home is where I put up my same Christmas decorations, where we have the same Thanksgiving traditions, where we do our own family traditions that we can take anywhere in the world. My home is always what I made of it and my family is always changing. There is the family who loves me no matter where I live and the family I make each place I go.

In one respect we are moving past the part of the year here where Colorado is new and exciting and where we want our time here to count. Now we know we have enjoyed it and done so many things but at the same time are looking forward to this part of the year where our own traditions that never change can make it feel like home more than ever. So 2008 has made this home for us. We are thinking of how fast its gone but also looking forward to all the things the holidays are to us that make home wherever we are.

When boys do laundry

2008-11-05T07:58:00.000-08:00

What do you see?

If you look carefully there are feet sticking out from under this pile.

On days when William is not in school I often ask him to bring all the dirty laundry down to the laundry room. This is fairly normal, however this house has an opening from the top of the stairs that looks down into our family room. Very cool looking architecture and high ceilings (especially for Military housing!). This area to young boys is perfect for launching things. We keep all launches to a minimum and request approval from the tower before major shows but it also works well for tossing laundry down instead of carrying. When you are the guy at the bottom and your brother doesn't check for clearance...this is what happens. We had one casualty and there might have been some skivvies hanging from my grandfather clock. Fortunatley, this was hilareous to all parties involved and although we generaly discourage this, it was too difficult to resist the picture.

Election Day

2008-11-04T10:11:00.000-08:00

Its Election Day and I voted! I am thrilled to say that the poles were not nearly as insane as I feared. That's good for my wait time but bad in general. I hope I just happened to get a good time. The way the weather is going here in Colorado I don't envy anyone having to wait in line later at my poling place. The area they used at this school was not the gym (like I usually see) but the tiny library. There was hardly enough room for the staff and ten people so I can only imagine how it might look later today since the line will have to be outside the building.

I got my sticker, which I love to wear and the little boys both got to go with me and see how the system works. They are proudly displaying their stickers and they know very well who we are voting for in our family.

In other news the 70 degree weather seems to be waning. The wind is whipping and we are for casted for snow on Thursday. The boys are hoping yes snow, and I'm hoping maybe not just yet.
I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Same as the election outcome.

Fall Halloween Fun

2008-11-03T10:44:00.000-08:00

I have lots of October photos but it seems to take forever to download so I'm just going to give you the high lights.

We decorated some Fall cupcakes last weekend.Chocolate with chocolate frosting and oodles of sprinkles. We never get tired of doing cupcakes around here!

We carved pumpkins of course (I love the tiny face on Max's!)And we dressed up!

I had a scary skeleton with blood and Mask (obviously those parts are not in this picture), a spider man which we saw lots and lots of this year and my little storm trooper. I wish they would still let me make their costumes but they were so happy with these that I can't complain.

My Storm Trooper Jack out Trick or Treating with Dad (Daddy was Indian Jones)

Which, I think his Indian Jones goes nice with my Lara Croft get up.

When in Rome

2008-10-30T08:57:00.000-07:00

Did you ever have to learn the metrics system in school? Well, you probably did at some point and I remember in even the 2nd grade them telling us that we were going to move to that system because that's what everyone else used, so we should know it. Um, right. Then there was weights in Killograms and grams, etc. I never did really understand those too well but how often have I needed them anyway?!

I was looking at some websites on Europe, which is pretty common for me right now because of the impending move.
Money, I can convert in my head. I can know the exchange rate and fairly easily figure out 'about' what I would pay. Then there is that whole metrics thing. Sure I get that. Its not 'too' tough. Then it was talking about the weight of fruit and cost and conversion and STOP!! I have no idea how to figure out the weight in grams vs. good ole lbs and on top of that, then convert how many euros for the killograms and then convert that to the ole dollar bill. Crap. I mean, I figure I'll get it but just reading the description of buying stuff by the weight had me thinking, I really should have paid better attention to that stuff.

I'm excellent at math (if I do say so myself) I am actually pretty good at languages too. I know a couple and working on a couple more, which I hope to really improve upon living in Europe. It really has me wondering what other stuff though is going to catch me off guard. I keep saying that when there I have to take everything in terms of European. I mean if I lived in the city then you just accept certain things as 'how they do them in the city'. I know that while living in Europe I have to have the same mentality. We are Americans but we have to live like Europeans while we are there. Which is great. It will be an experience of a lifetime. I can't believe we get to go as a family and have such a great opportunity.

I have to question that when I can't figure out how much I'm going to have to pay for fruit...what
else is going to catch me off guard. I'm sure plenty and I'm sure I'll relive it all here for you but seriously..Fruit???? Maybe that's why you don't see a lot of fruit and vegetable in German dishes. Hey, when in Rome.

Did you know...

2008-10-29T09:50:00.001-07:00

That because of our position here in relation to the sun, altitude etc, that 20 minutes in the sun here is equal to all day in Florida. Seriously. Sunblock folks. Lots and lots of sunblock.

Also, I am so swamped with helping people out watching their kids this week and planning the 5th Grade Fall festival that I barely have time to keep up with the house and workout. This is driving me nuts. Especially the time to get in a workout. This is harder than it seems as I hate to go to the school all sweaty and in workout clothes so that makes timing harder and I refuse to get up early for the sake of working out. You could call that lazy but after years and years of morning workouts as a teen for swimming, I just don't have the heart. Plus, I'm always afraid if I get up then I will barely start and my kids will get up. Then I not only have tired kids but still didn't get to finish my excercise. Hmm, this schedule needs some fine tuning.

Hoping next week is slower but then again I was hoping this week would be slower.

Fall Weekend Happenings

2008-10-26T17:07:00.000-07:00

I can't believe its the last week of October?! The time has just flown by. We have had a wonderful fall weekend as a family and I think its the first in almost two months that we've actually had two full days together thanks to Doc and all the ER shifts.

We had our usual Family Movie night on Friday, then Saturday we spent a good portion of the day simply rearranging the garage. Not to clean but to stack all things in order of ship, sell, or store for our impending move to Europe. It really just feels like we just flipped everything from one side to another. I assure you we did much more but even to me it looks fairly similar.
We then had a sitter on Saturday night so Doc and I could go to our favorite pub. We had a bit of Beef Boxty and Shepards Pie for dinner and enjoyed the band they had that night. Seems to me they were simply a 90's cover band but enjoyable all the same. Then Doc owed me a night of dancing so we went down the street to Rumbay's Dance Club and shook our booties for a bit. The clientele in different rooms of a club where they play varying music is quite impressive and amusing. We loved getting time to just have fun and do whatever we enjoyed.
Today, Doc studied up for his Pediatrics exam and we did a few activities in the beautiful fall weather. Its chilly here but sunny and has that Fall crisp feeling to the air. We gutted and carved our pumpkins, watched a Christmas Movie (early but fun none the less) and then used the firepit to roast some delicious hot smows. I mean smore's. (wink wink to all you Toy Story Fans.)
It was a very enjoyable Fall weekend and really made me appreciate getting the whole of it and not these measly half days here and there as a family. Pics to come when I deign to download. ;)

All American Animals...abroad???

2008-10-20T07:21:00.000-07:00

Bamberg is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg is one of the few cities in Germany that was not destroyed by World War II bombings. Bamberg is home to nearly 7,000 foreign nationals, including over 4,100 members of the United States Army and their dependents. The name Bamberg supposed to have its origin in the House of Babenberg. (copied from Wikipedia)

AND.....WE ARE MOVING THERE!!!

That's right. So in about 6 and 1/2 months, my Lovely 'All American Animals' Will become

'All American Animals...ABROAD!'

We are so excited to get to go to Europe. I've always wanted to travel numerous places in Europe. Now we have the opportunity to not only go but to live there, which gives me time to see all kinds of things. Doc will be in an Airborne unit (thank goodness) and a great battalion from everything we've heard. There are approximately 703 things to do before then but most of it not just yet and tons of things before the first of the year when the final planning happens.

Hooray!!!

Dinosaurs in Colorado

2008-10-15T16:13:00.000-07:00

Well, for about 3 days I've been trying to put together this post on some of our weekend activities. Specifically we did a little exploring in the mountains. Our intentions...nothing really. We just wanted to get out, maybe see some colorful leaves, and then we went through Woodland Park area.
'Oh yeah!' We remembered hearing about this place and seeing weather updates on the news. Well we found it.
Then we passed a Dinosaur resource center and the kids were ready for a break. Which then occurred to me, 'Oh yeah! That was something else we wanted to go see here in Colorado!'

Luck would have it, it was a great little place. Not too large but lots of things to do and see. The kids absolutely LOVED it and for whatever reason Max really really wanted a dinosaur T-shirt so we obliged and its his new pride and joy.

Max using tools to unearth some Dinosaur bones.

William putting together parts of dinosaurs to make a dino creation of his own on the magnetic board.

Jack doing some rubbings of dinosaurs. In the boxes to the side were petrified dino poop and a giant bug of some sort.

Obliging Mom with a photo while watching a short little video.

This is a goofy photo but this is about how shots with all three went. It was very difficult to get all three to hold still in front of a dinosaur for a photo there was just too much cool stuff to see. There were lots of interactive boards. (you know where you push a button and get answers or see things. That was very popular. We've been studying maps a lot since moving here too and they really loved those.) They looked at how most dinosaurs have been found in the alley from Montana, down south through Wyoming, then Colorado and Utah and New Mexico and they liked seeing maps of that.

Sometimes there are lots of things we want to do in once place but we can't just run out and do them. Its was really fun to accidentally come across this place and cross dinosaurs off our list. The boys had a fantastic time and we were happy to get in another great site here in Colorado.

Oh and as a little post script, they had a specialist there on Wolves and were having a discussion on that with a live wolf pup shortly after we arrived. I thought, 'wow, cool! A wolf pup.' And was picturing a cute fluffy little ball about the size of a full grown cat. Um, NO.

This wolf was jet black, and at five months old was bigger than our 50lb full grown Siberian husky. He was very pretty and reminded us a LOT of our husky. They share lots and lots of traits but I think I'll take our fuzzy lapdog over the wolf any day.

Some like it Hot

2008-10-15T10:27:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know its fall and getting cooler, blah blah blah. I mean its COLD. It didn't even make it out of the 30's for two days here. I meet people and they think I am acclimated because I have lived here longer than them, but nope. Even when you factor in my obvious Northern European heritage...I'm freezing. Acclimated, and freezing. I am smart enough not to pull out ALL my winter wear just yet because I do know its going to get LOTS colder and then I'll be screwed.

All I could think as I walked the kids into school, was this bites. The wind is whipping, my nose is frozen and I know its going to get about 30-40 degrees colder. Then I was thinking you'd probably figure I'd handle it better being from the whole European decent. Doesn't my body have some sort of coping mechanism then? I mean it should. Which led me to the conclusion that quite obviously my internal temperature gage takes after that Italian portion of my genes because instead of chilly I was getting dam cold.

Of course I have lived in really warm/hot climates for 5 years and now I am in a cold one. Albeit I've been here for about 10 months, you'd think I'd be adapted to a larger degree. Maybe an extra layer of fat takes longer to grow. I realize with a few Krispy Kremes I could probably accomplish it quicker but it would hardly be the insulating toasty kind but more a jiggle and make it impossible to fit into my warmest clothes kind. Probably not a good idea, nor helpful.

This quickly led to the fact that I like hot. I walk into the school to hear someone (dressed only in jeans and a thick sweater, not the hat and three layers I had on) say that they prefer cold to warm because you can only take off so much when its hot but cold you can just keep layering. I disagree.

I would take 100 degrees over 10 degrees any day. Seriously, I would rather sweat than shake like I'm having seizures. I mean sweat can be good. You lose weight, you glisten and taking clothes off is good in a lot of ways. Layering up and my nose running and adding more layers than I own does not appeal to me.

Ya ya, its pretty here. I might have used the word gorgeous. Sledding should be fun. We might even get a white Christmas which could be magical. Still, I think I like it hot.

AirShow

2008-10-11T07:47:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we managed a couple hours to go to the local airshow. I think its probably the tiniest airshow I've ever been to, but it was still a lot of fun for the boys to run around and look at planes. Of course we had to stop by the obligatory firetruck too but they just love that.
We also met up with some of their friends there. Max has a good buddy Hunter in his class. Hunter and his two brothers were there too so the boys all hung out together.

In a C130. Jack, William, Max, Hunter and only part of Sonny.

At the all important Fire Truck.
Checking out some of the planes.

Hunter, Max and William Checking out a small plane. They all had to take turns pretending to fly this one.

Nick named strangers...Part 2

2008-10-08T19:34:00.000-07:00

Well if you haven't read the first installment then you need to check this out (Nick-Named Strangers). That should fill you in on 'Pole Dancer Becky' and 'Marathon Man'. Well today I bring you a new one....Dr. Pectoralis or Dr. Pecs for short.

You see it all started on a beautiful sunny day at about noon. Why do I know the time? Because that is the time I am driving my boys to school. We are headed on our merry way, in fact we are almost to the school, being not all that far. In the distance, moving towards us on the running path. (You know..that same loop that runs by our house and is about 4 miles) Anyway, on that path is running a man. A man without a shirt. He is wearing sneakers and traditional black shorts (the army issues black running shorts.) Now it got my attention because obviously he wasn't wearing a shirt, which I always find a little weird. I think a lot of men tend to remove shirts to do things outside. Run, wash the car...pose. Yes, pose. I think they fall into two categories, so you could say I am already putting you into a nick-named category...those who should take the shirts off and those who should NOT. Most people are harmless and I don't notice but the hairy beast of an overweight man who is blindingly white and posing like a super stud is always good for a laugh. Runners, they have to be careful, you actually have to have a good physique to take it off. If you don't get your body moving at a good pace every once in awhile then I'll point out the obvious dilemna...jiggle.

You just don't want to be removing that shirt if certain areas are keeping a totally different pace than those legs. Its just not right. Ok, so onto my story, I'm driving along and see this man with no shirt. I notice and think sheesh, what a poser. Then we get a little closer and I think, welllll maybe he CAN have his shirt off, he looks pretty in shape. Then we get really close and I try not to move my head in a manner that makes it obvious I'm looking at him and determine, yup he can have his shirt off. This guy was cut and although he had not a single bit of jiggle, he darn well knew it and ran with a certain prideful strut if that's possible. He worked for those muscles and he was showing them off. Pretty funny I thought but he'd earned it so what the heck. If anyone can run with a shirt of, its that guy.

Fast forward to the next evening and Doc is filling me in on his current rotation. Oh and he says they have this new Doc in this specialty. (And no I won't tell you which specialty because I know you will all go make appointments. You people are so shallow like that.) He starts to say this guy is young, and he is cut. How does he know this, well besides looking like it with his clothes ON, he changed his shirt and this man had some serious pecs.

Now this is the first time I had ever seen afore mentioned runner man and no I don't keep track of who runs by but he started to talk about this guy and I say what does he look like, no wait, is he Asian. He stops and says uh, Ya. Why?
I Saw him!! This was the latest runner man. I told him I checked him out the day before running by the school. We had a real laugh about it but now I have to tell him because the only time I talk to Doc during the day...is when he gets a chance at lunch to give me a quick call...and what am I doing...taking the kids to school....which means that every time this guy runs by and I'm on the phone I have to tell him that I just saw Dr. Pectoralis!

So there you have it. Pole Dancer Becky, Marathon Man and now...Dr. Pectoralis. (hey Doc knows him but I don't so I'm allowed to give him names.)

The Commander Celebrates 4!

2008-10-06T08:04:00.000-07:00

On Friday we took out little man out to dinner. He heard a birthday song at a restaurant a few weeks ago and thought it was the greatest so we planned a little surprise outing to go have dinner at Red Robin on Friday. He loved getting a sundae and Birthday song. We were just impressed he didn't hide but stoicely watched them sing then was happy for them to go so he could enjoy.

Showing off what his brothers got him.

William helping him celebrate with some Mud Pie.
Our Baby is 4! They turned the camera on us too but were pretty cute all squishing together for pictures. (Thanks William for snapping away!)

The three Monkeys posing together before their meals came.

Saturday the 4th was actually the day he turned four and we had some friends over to celebrate. I asked Max if he wanted a Police car cake or maybe Diego. He said no, thought for a second and then said a Garbage Truck. This is what he got.

We made spiders out of doughnuts, licorice and sugar eyes then hung them up for a game. The kids had to eat them without using their hands. Some were grossed out at first but eventually they all decided it was fun. (That's Jack in Yellow and he was the champ! He was so determined to play the games well.)

The kids were all well behaved and had a blast opening presents. Maximus was thrilled with everything and willing to let everyone play with the new things with him.

The whole crowd enjoying the fun.

Happy Birthday to the Commander

2008-10-03T08:44:00.000-07:00

My baby turns 4 on the Fourth! Yup, Four years ago tomorrow on the Fourth of October we brought home our biggest little boy yet. He was the latest paratrooper to join the family. He loves Firefighters above all but he really likes police officers, tractors, trains and even Garbage Trucks. He likes to take care of people but gets very upset when someone corrects him. He takes after his brothers (ok and Mom and Dad too) in the pool and is swimming like a fish already. He likes to watch Curious George, ride his bike and still cooks whenever he can. His favorite thing to do is color his Mac&Cheese into blue, green and red colors.

Announcing his arrival 4 years ago

This is the little man at about 8 weeks old on his Baptism Day

Celebrating ONE year.

His Second Birthday and making a mess. Fairly routine for him.
Turning Three and practicing on his bike in his own style.

My almost Four year old starting Preschool.

Indigenous Creatures...Found

2008-10-01T12:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, so you might remember my post about the creatures being different every time we move and getting used to what is normal. What spiders there are and what animals lurking. Well we found a few close to home recently.

Thank Goodness for my Dog. Yes, thank goodness. You see he annoys me a lot but then again every once in awhile I remember why he can be great too. For over a month he occasionally goes nuts about something being under the outside storage bin. I know there must be something he is scenting but he can't seem to get it. He even slept outside one night and about 2 am was going nuts so I went down and let him in. He was freaking about the drain pipe. I go back up to bed and could hear something in the pipe making its escape. I have no idea what it was and figure it must come and go since he doesn't always smell it but oh well. It kind of amused me.

Last week as we are throwing sandwiches together and getting suits on Maximus comes in and tells me there is a dead rabbit in the back yard. Ok, ok, I said I'll come look in just a second. Well low and behold it was an enormous rat that the dog killed. I go out and the dog gleefully runs to it and tosses it in pride. I yelled at him to drop it but he was beaming (if dogs can do that). Then doc comes out and he picked it up and tossed it to show him too. Now I'm not naive enough to think it wasn't a rat or a mouse. I figured it was but this rat was huge!! It was almost as big as my tennis shoe and quite healthy. Thankfully, it was dead and I was very proud of my pooch. Doc tossed it out into the brush (circle of life you know!) and we headed off to swimming.

We get home that same evening and the dog is going nuts out back. Great. This is not new sometimes he freaks to get let inside as soon as we get home. William goes to the door and wisely looked out and realized the dog had something cornered. He looked and it was a snake. The boys lined up at the window while Dad went out with a shovel and threw it out of the fence. It was only about 2 feet long and thick as maybe a kids marker (hey I'm looking around my desk for references) but it was MAD! It kept trying to strike out but it was kinda sad little attempts since he wasn't that big. Doc dropped him once in the yard and had to repick him up on the shovel to toss him out. He says he thinks he might have hurt/killed it that time. My response: good. Circle of life baby. Now some hawk or something has lots of yummy treats out back.

Two things I've learned
ONE:I open the door now that its getting cold because you never know whats waiting to come in.
TWO: I am thankful for a dog that knows when these animals are around. At least if they ever get in then he will know or stop them in the process. (huge sigh of relief!)

Waiting

2008-09-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

Well I have not been that great about posting lately. It seems I am waiting for things to get done or happen and then I'll post and that hasn't really been working out. A few non-updates though since I am waiting on word of things but haven't received any.

1.Orders. We are waiting on orders for our next duty station. I hoped we might have them early in Aug but you know can't be too disappointed since it was really supposed to be Sept. If you haven't checked the calendar then please note its now the last day of Sept and still NO orders. I know we aren't supposed to report until next May, but seeing as Doc leaves in Jan then if we do go overseas there are lots of things that need to be addressed before he goes. Can't figure that out till we get orders and NO ORDERS.

2. Max has been a bear. Not my usual silly monkey but a crabby not fed enough probably growing too fast and not sleeping enough angry bear. He's exhausting me. He sleeps too heavy to make it dry through the night but wakes up hungry at 4 am and will stay awake until he gets some milk of some such thing to settle his tummy again. Its driving me nuts. That doesn't include the daytime frustrations though. He is either in angry bear mode or carting LOADS of things somewhere they don't belong to play a game. This then leaves the new room a disaster and him not knowing or wanting to figure out how to put all the things he got out away. I'm seriously hoping this ends soon.

3. Swim Lessons, we screwed up (or rather the guy gave me the wrong answers when we registered) but we ended up with swim lessons every single night of the week, at dinner time. Sandwiches are great for dinner but at about night 4 we are all pretty sick of them. Then too it leaves our children exhausted, more crabby and everyone scrambling at night to get everything done. I said it when William was little and I think its true now, we are tiring them out but we are also just increasing their endurance. Yes, endurance is a good thing but it also is a double edged sword because its just going to take more to tire them out in the future.

4. Doc to not work weekends. He has weekend ER shifts 8 weekends in a row. Hmm, this sounds a heck of a lot like San Antonio lately. I am not too thrilled about it. Around number 6 now and I'm starting to get sick of it.

5. And right now...waiting to take the boys to their tumbling class. Its the last one in this session, thank goodness, but more importantly we go by the drive through Starbucks on the way there and back. So really this morning I am waiting for after tumbling so I can have my Grande Latte Coffee Goodness. Did you know the Pumpkin Spice one is out for Fall...Yum.

Contradictions

2008-09-25T09:29:00.000-07:00

Life is full of contradictions. I am forever telling my children they are so big but then saying they are so small. They are very confused. ;)

Then you have the school since its on my mind. They want the kids to learn their letters in K but they also want them to memorize sight words. Well if they don't know letters then why are we doing sight words just yet? And no most of the class is NOT ready for both.

How about Sex. Now if you are a sensitive soul then ignore this one. They say women hit their sexual peak at about 28 and men at about 20. Um, men at 20 aren't very mature yet and haven't really hit the good looks peak they might at say 28. Well then when they do hit their good looks and the women want to have sex, then the men don't? Or the fact men are forever sexualizing the societal standard of a 20 yr old female but really she hits her peak much later. I know that is broad generalization but it doesn't seem to add up. If this one is true then someone seriously screwed up some timing. (side note: Doc says there are plenty of people on Viagra and going strong in their 70's so no worries folks)

How about the old park on the drive way and drive on the parkway. Just saying.

Then the fact that the more attractive you are are sometimes means the less people like you. Ironic that one.

How about having a pet for comfort but really spending most of our time annoyed we have to take care of it. Does the work outweight the benefits? They say you live longer if you have a pet but are you just living longer while being annoyed?

What about cleaning up first so you can make a mess. I routinely work at keeping things tidy so then I'll be ready to do other things. cook, paint, etc. I can't do that in mess, but by doing it I make a mess.

How about laundry. I do the laundry weekly. I finish the laundry, but alas the laundry is never DONE. I'm hoping some space time continuum will be discovered to make this a done deal.

We get new computers so we can update and be faster but they are outdated and slow before the year is up. Although, I'm not sure how I ever learned ANYTHING before I could just look it up online whenever I wanted. (Did you know the temperature in 5 diff. places...I do all the time thanks to my computer.)

I do know a few things are true.
Repetition really does make things easier.
If you do the best you can, its all you can do.
That cleaning up is always a good thing even if it never gets finished.
Sex is always a good idea despite age.
Don't analyze things too much because you just come up with contradictions and people will start to wonder what you are smoking.

Funnies and updates

2008-09-24T09:13:00.001-07:00

Some funny Bumper Stickers I read this week.

'Remember, its Pillage THEN burn.'

'what if the Hokey Pokey IS what it's all about?'

On a sidenote...swim lessons are going well. They messed up the classes but I think we finally have it figured out. William is the only one in his class and therefore getting a totally private lesson. She worked his butt off (as I wanted) and he actually said, 'She's worse than YOU mom!' I take that to be a good thing. He was exhausted and she really did make him work on things he won't listen to me about anymore. The kid did 400 yards though, so that was great.

Maximus is turning 4 soon. Well, actually 4 on the 4th!! haha, just realized that. Anyway, I asked him last night if he wanted a Pumpkin cake or a Police car. He thinks for a second and says a Garbage Truck. Weird. Unique, but weird.

Jack is slowwwwwly picking up his letter. The school is sending home sight words but hasn't even gotten through letters. Their method is contradictory and only the top few kids (all girls I might add and therefore generally always ahead academically at this age) are doing all this stuff. All the boys are WAY behind. I'm so annoyed about it all but trying to stay focused on studying his needs at home. Slow and steady is my moto.

I love my Life (Guinness, Firefighters and All!)

2008-09-22T07:44:00.000-07:00

Do you ever look around you and just think, 'I Love my Life!' Seriously?
I think a lot of people do when they watch their kids do something joyful or when we experience things that effect us. Well, I had one of those moments this weekend. I don't have the pictures yet, and yes there is photographic evidence but I'll do my best to describe it until then.

This one didn't involve my kids. It didn't involve a holiday, it involved lots of Guinness, Music and firemen. Haha, now you know you gotta finish reading!

We went out on Saturday night for a friends birthday. There were 9 of us and we met up at Colorado Springs Hot night spot. They have a street downtown that runs about two blocks full of dance clubs, restaurants and bars of all kinds that have music, dancing, food drinks. Its a really good crowd too.
We met at a restaurant and each ate copious amounts of chips while waiting for our slowest waitress in the history of the world. Our theory is that since we had over 6 people she was guaranteed a 20% gratuity. I think she was just plain slow. But regardless the food was fantastic and the table was just inside the open doors. It was gorgeous.
We finished and headed across the street to our favorite local Irish pub. Jack Quinn's. The crowd was pretty thick because of the Firefighters convention in town but we got in and to the back. We picked up beers as we wrangled the crowd and I ended up getting some space for us upstairs with some firefighters from Kennewick, WA.
Now you have to picture a pub. A long wood bar. Wood floors, lots of long wood tables and copious amounts of Guinness. Yes, we had lots of Guinness and a few Car Bombs (a shot of Bailey's dropped into the bottom of your Guinness and it will foam up fast so you have to drink it down before it does). Its delicious.
At about 9:30 a couple of the Irish Pipe and Drum bands marched in and we were surrounded by pounding drums, bag pipes and cheering. As it would have it, the biggest one was from Seattle! Yes, Seattle. Therefore, we had to talk to them all and they continued to come back every hour and play. We must have listened to them five times. We became the center of where they performed and some of the drummers would climb up onto the tables around us, everyone would stomp their feet and raise their Guinness high.
We would look around and EVERYONE was just sooo amazingly happy and just mesmerized. We yelled and screamed, pounded our feet until the floor beneath us shook in time and It was one of those moments where no matter who you were standing next to and it was never the people I came with, but I'd look at the firefighter next to me and we would just mouth the words...'amazing'
Now, as a side note I managed to get ahold of 7 of the tags they were giving away from Quinns (enough for each of our people still there and a few firefighters that wanted them). I got 3 shirts from firefighters (they wear extra and no I didn't do anything bad or illegal to get them) and met tons of great people. Oh we also danced to the Irish band Big Paddy's who was playing too and although my friends said they would not dance I got them all up there shaking their thing. Then again the band was fantastic so that helped too.
We came home and just kept saying Wow! What a fantastic time. Who would have thought I'd be screaming and stomping and holding my Guiness while surrounded by men in kilts and bone stirring music. Just one of those times I kept thinking...I Love my Life. I'm not always sure how I end up being where I am but on nights like that where strangers become friends and everyone has a great time, I remember how much I love my life.

Monkeys Everywhere

2008-09-21T07:38:00.000-07:00

Not Monkeys necessarily but primates. I tried to post this earlier in the week but blogger was not letting me upload pictures. Then, today it was the fastest ever so maybe that is a good sign. Our table conversation the other night did involve animals. You might have guessed that.

Last weekend Max got the honor of bringing home the class stuffed monkey...Marla. We sewed a tear together in Marla then proceeded to take her everywhere for the weekend. She also participated in all meals but you probably already figured that out.

buckled up for safety

At the Auto Parts store

Doughnuts...of course!

And scones. You can tell from her expression that she is quite pleased.

Then on Wednesday...It was Jack's turn to bring home the class stuffed Gorilla...Koko. See, I told you primates everywhere.

Things uttered at the table

2008-09-15T07:01:00.000-07:00

The following phrases were used at my dinner table last night:

'Don't eat like that. Eat like a Maximus.'

Thankgoodness I was able to get back in.

'I told them about the things for the thing. You know the accessory things and they are going to send the usual.'

No, Mom. Bears eat tons of noodles.

No More Noodles for the Monkey!

Eleven Years Ago...

2008-09-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

This is me and my baby exactly eleven years ago. I was being all nostalgic the other day and realized how old this photo is. Its one of my favorites with him. I still say he's growing up too fast.

Fall Happenings

2008-09-09T10:34:00.000-07:00

Well, school has started, the weather is changing and our daily lives are being molded into a whole new schedule. I figured I might as well fill you in on the latest and greatest of our clan.

Doc, is doing his dermatology rotation. From the sound of it, he's not enjoying it nearly as much as he did ER, Surgery or say Orthopedics. After this he has only TWO rotations left!!! Yes, you read that right. TWO! Pediatrics and Family Practice. I am so excited. Well, probably not as excited as him but still. He also has an ER shift every single weekend this month. Luck of the draw I guess. This way I still get to see him vs. when he has the night shifts but its kind of a bummer.

William, is starting the Trumpet this week. He has his own trumpet he's been tooling around with and managed to already get the mouth piece stuck. Yes, I spent part of my Monday afternoon running between a preschool meeting and the music store because we couldn't get it out ourselves. He's also devouring books. He's keeping up with school work and still reading one or two novels a week minimum. He loves them. He's also worked really hard to improve his spelling. His vocabulary is excellent, as well as comprehension. The time it takes to write things out and especially spell properly, Not so much. He has managed to get 100% on every spelling test this year! He is doing just excellent and excited to start up with swimming again in a couple weeks in addition to band.

Jack is almost done with the cast. He is excited to get it off later this week and be back at the pool. He is loving school and working hard to learn the whole alphabet. He's really starting to pick out letters he knows when we go out and is anxious to start reading. He also started tumbling this morning and doing head stands despite the cast. Personally I think it offered greater stability but who knows. He comes home from school lately reciting whole stories that are just hilarious.

Maximus is loving his Mom and Max time. He wasn't so sure about going 'in' to starbucks this week but once there and he found a plush chair he was a real ham. We chatted all about what he'd like for his birthday. He loved doing tumbling this morning and is very big and tough for his age. He loves school this year and has so much to say each day. He also is coming home and telling me all about the kids in his class. The teachers have told us that he takes each new student under his wing and shows them the ropes. He's still a great nurturer. He is also excited to do his first formal swim lessons later this month.

Moi, well I have been busy managing it all and a few things of my own. I have been trying to find a new time of day to keep up with my running groove and its coming along. I still read about 2-3 novels a week of course and am trying to keep things organized. I've helped two friends move to newer housing on post and spent some time reviewing some old french language lessons before taking up a new language just yet.
That's all for the moment but its more than enough to keep us hopping!

Not Mom's Show and Tell

2008-09-07T20:24:00.000-07:00

When I was in Kindergarten and it was 'your' week you got to bring in show and tell. I don't remember how many times I got to bring in show and tell but I remember it was an exciting prospect.
Last year Jack had the 'Wonder Can' which was a little empty coffee can that they took turns taking home. You put something in the can and came up with three questions about your item. You then had the teacher read your questions and see if the class could guess it. I thought this was pretty cool. Well this year in K, they have a day of the week. Your day depends on the letter of your last name.
Numerous children are therefore on the same day. My child is on Monday. The funny thing is you don't bring just anything in, there is a list. The list has 9-10 activities to choose from so each month you'll do a couple of them. They are all divided by learning style. Visual, kinesthetic, auditory. This is supposed to help us figure out which our child leans towards. Not to be a know it all but do you really need this to figure it out?
First of all my child is male. Therefore, probably not auditory. Second he could be visual but kinesthetic would typically beat out on a boy. Then you factor in my high energy child and its a no duh.
The weird thing is that most of the ones for the first month revolve around fairy tales. My child wants to draw a picture but the topic is Princesses and Prince. Um, no.
How about learn a fairy tale. Nope. He pretty much made a crown and danced around when he was supposed to make up a song. Boys just aren't that into the Fairy Tales. I mean lets face it they are female oriented and the man comes in at the end for a brief moment. Really, the stories of valour and excitement are much preferred in my house.
This month we have more fairy tales but thank goodness there are a few options that include jumping jacks and counting. Now that is for a boy!
Its kind of a cool idea. I certainly can appreciate the last minute ease of just choosing from a list but it is a little weird. Its not how I did show and tell that's for sure.

Refinishing project

2008-09-06T13:29:00.001-07:00

I took on a new project this year when the boys started school. Those who know me realize I've refinished every dresser in our house, plus a couple we've sold. I redid the book shelf and came up with the plans and helped build the toy box and sand box. I like to refinish and build things. Well, mostly its probably about having an outlet but this time I took on the kitchen table. I love our table but it was getting pretty sad. It did not come out perfectly if you look close but I really think its beautiful and am happy enough for a family table. The chairs also look good but those are on their last leg (some it seems literally) so I am not as concerned but I think they look nice too.

Before

After

Note the difference in floors too! (we found a deal and put down a faux wood floor. I love it!)

Goodbye to my Frenemies

2008-09-04T14:41:00.000-07:00

friend [ frend ]
noun (plural friends)
Definition:
1. somebody emotionally close: somebody who trusts and is fond of another
Do you have friends? I hope you do. I do. I have friends, acquaintances and neighbors, etc.

Some people are blessed with friends. They make them and keep them with ease. We all knew the kids in school who seemed to be at ease with themselves and who they were and knew. I have often wondered if they were stupid. Not because I didn't like some but the naivety of it seemed comical as I got older. There were other people who were quiet and reserved and often without friends but good people at heart. I know I started looking at people and how they interacted and with who very early in life.

Maybe it had to do a lot with having different worlds. There was the school world, the swim team world and the church world. Each one encompassed totally different friends and acquaintances. All important in different ways. That was a good thing but maybes its what made me start to look at how those friends acted and to compare. I knowingly have taken myself out of certain 'groups/clicks'. I know and could name several exact instances when I decided that who I was hanging out with was not who I wanted to be around. I could site lots of reasons but I think looking back it was always for the right reasons. Because they were shallow, or started to be mean or just didn't see how their actions effected others. That's not who I wanted to be.

What is ironic is I value my friends more than most people. I meet new people all the time but I try hard to be the one to say 'hi/hello/how are you' Why? Simply because I know how hard it is to put yourself out there and to take that chance. Sometimes nothing comes of it and other times I have met and stayed close to amazing people. People who know me think I'm so outgoing and happy and cheerful. I am but I work at it because I always need more friends. Really, who doesn't. Then again maybe they just need me. I have been down lately because sometimes I wish that some of my dearest friends were closer. I guess that's a curse and a blessing of being a bit of a nomad. You get so many opportunities to meet so many people but you also get separated from those people.

The worst friends are those who value you based on how long they've known you. I will never win that contest so I resent it. I will never be the best friend from Kindergarten. I sometimes have met people and we get along, hang out, have fun. Then Kelly Cool comes into town and guess what...they've been the bested buds since the 1st grade playground, despite that they haven't seen each other in years and you are out. You are a friend but you will never win the 'known you longer card.' I am not alone in that. I'm sure thousands of people are the same and will never win that card but when faced with it you start to wonder if that person ever valued you at all.

Then there are the friends who are really frenemies. (Definition: a two faced Friend. Someone who appears to be your friend, but is not) I have encountered some people like this lately and frankly I'm shocked. It takes me right back to that elementary playground and the snotty girls who never looked beyond themselves. Then one day the shy girl cries and they swarm around her and act like they care. Just like that, shy girl is part of the click and forgets all about her other friends without a backward glance. These same snotty girls evolve into the cry on your shoulder girls later but they don't incorporate the sad girl, they are sympathetic long enough to get the dirt then go gossip about her behind her back. I hated people like that. They all want to know you when there is dirt to be had but beyond that they could care less.

What happens I ask then, when you meet a person and go out of your way to do those friend things? You invite them over, watch the kids, do kind things to be nice. A true friend does these with no thought of return. When you do get a return its a sweet little blessing that I am perpetually amazed by. I never expect them and it always amazes me when someone reaches out and does those things because it reminds me that people actually 'trust and are fond of me' for exactly who I am. I'm not saying we don't have friends in different areas. I still have Army wife friends, mom friends, family friends etc. They each have their own place in my life. I am always thankful when they reach out to me or genuinely want to hang out together.

Lately I have realized I have a frenemy. I am shocked. I thought that was something left long ago with the school bells and homework. I am naive to be shocked. I know they exist, but when someone I have done nothing but kind things for turns around and not only doesn't offer a return. Which is fine. I don't expect a return, But throws out distrust and jealousy I am floored. I am at a loss to figure out how I didn't see it coming and where that discerning girl I used to be was when this happened. Was I so desperate for a close friend that I didn't stop and make those same choices I made long ago to not hang with mean girls? To not condone the wrong choices and not be a sheep? I chose then to be myself and I choose that now but I am shocked that its not any easier as an adult to let a relationship that I thought mattered go. I can't believe I'm so sad to realize this is not a friend. I should not be sad but mad and I guess I'm both. I'm sad that I don't have the friendship I invested in and sadder still to find that I was not viewed as a friend.

I would feel bad about myself but the great thing about growing up is knowing that I'm not wrong. That I have been nothing but kind. That I have not thrown out judgement. I am judging now and I am sad for the friend who can't let anyone in. That has such low self esteem that they would judge me and throw my kindness in my face when all I've offered is love and support. I'm mad I'm not appreciated and Angry. I am so sorry to let them go. I would hope that it only means there are other friends out there who appreciate me for who I am and who are honest and open.

So Goodbye to my Frenemies. I will miss you. I really did care and am happy I could ever have helped you. Maybe someday when you appreciate me for me. For exactly who I am and because I make you happy to be around then maybe just maybe we will be real friends and not a facade.

Colorado Weather

2008-09-04T06:00:00.000-07:00

We've been here for just over 8 months now. We got to experience...

Winter. Cold, snows about once a week, melt, repeat. Lots of sunshine and wind to go with that, however, and not enough snow that its really a big deal driving. Not so bad. Kinda fun even.

Spring...ya, see spring was really windy, cold and not necessarily snow once a week. Not really different from winter at all except I've heard people say lately that we skipped spring this year so perhaps what we experienced was not typical. This was not my favorite since it was not warm but no snow either. Just really frustrating and windy.

Summer..gorgeous, sunny, and great. Not much to complain about there but see 'Fall' before you decide.

Fall...now technically we are not to fall yet. I did put up some of my fall decor over the weekend and the weather is changing despite the calender. If you refer to my Faux Fall then there are numerous signs that say Fall has arrived. It was 95 at the Fair this last weekend but then this week is supposed to stay in the 60's. We might just maybe, perhaps touch on some low 70's. Oh and today...that darn wind is back. Funny how I don't notice it when its a warm but cold wind...ick. I don't think cold wind is my friend.

I happened to discuss this with a friend who's been local for a whole 3 years and was told that once you have an overnight freeze. That's it. It will stay that cold until spring. The nice part is we have had some great rain. Nothing with the storms Texas can hand out but refreshing none the less. I hope we are still enamoured with snow this year when rumor has it we might start getting some before Halloween. I am trying to remember how beautiful it is and the fact that I won't be PCS'ing during the winter. Thank Goodness for that and for getting to rediscover my holiday decor that hasn't been unpacked for 2 years.

Since we won't be here much over a year I say its all a learning experience and I'm not too worried since its all temporary for me. I'll enjoy it while I can and look forward to whatever weather we get in our next duty station. Just don't quote me on that when I have to stand outside the school for 45 minutes in negative 5 degrees to pick up my kids. I probably won't think its such a 'neat' thing.

Colorado State Fair...More weekends pics

2008-09-03T08:55:00.001-07:00

Our Labor Day was spent at the state fair down in Pueblo, Colorado. It was not the biggest fair we've gone to (Its hard to beat the good ol'Puyallup Fair) but it was still pretty nice.

Max was excited to see every single animal and petted all the ones he could get his hands on. He also has been known to take an egg out of the fridge and call it his chicken (I can't explain that one but its true) so we were happy to show him some real baby chicks.

Jack and I checking out the tigers. (Tigers at the fair...weird, but cool)William bouncing around. He did get the hang of this and did a few flips

My boys all on the fire truck. Max wanted to rip off his ride band and we had to hold it on until I pointed out the fire ride. Then life was just great again.

Jack and Max enjoyed lots of the rides together. Their favorite was the fun houses.

Max and I discussing goat milk. Scintillating I know.

Hot Air Balloons

2008-09-02T08:56:00.000-07:00

Well, this weekend I introduced all of my boys to hot air balloons. Apparently, I made an impression on Doc when I told him about seeing them every year growing up. I take for granted that not everyone has seen one in the air, much less experienced being in the midst of them as they are filled and the amazing colors from being surrounded.

My boys having a snack and waiting for balloons to be rolled out (literally)

Starting to fill (this only takes a few minutes)

It seems like forever before they start rolling out and then in minutes you have them popping up all around you.

Glowing!

We haven't figured out the new camera and the dark. We tried all kinds of ways to get us in the flash and not lose the back glow. We weren't very successful. Lots of silhouttes and shadow but still fun.

If I made them stand close and waited for the glow, I could use the flash and get a shot. I was practically sitting on the ground for this one. (and Max totally got cut off..oops)

Bunches of Balloons Glowing

Friday Foto Fiests

2008-08-28T19:28:00.000-07:00

See the paratrooper to the far left. That's my Doc!

St. Mere Eglise Drop Zone Ft. Bragg NC.

I never missed my Doc in a daytime jump. I have tons of cool photos in the air of him but its nothing like being there in person. Three years ago today he deployed with one hours notice to support in Hurricane Katrine. He parachuted back home one month later.

You too can see lots of fun fotos or play too at Candid Carries!

Getting Over the Hump

2008-08-27T15:48:00.000-07:00

Today I woke up and it felt like a hump day. Just that day of the week that wasn't looking so hot and we aren't even on the down swing yet. This probably felt more significant because Doc is off partially tomorrow for a Senior Graduation (and I get to go to the reception without kids!) Then he's off Friday afternoon too so with kids in school we get yet more time. Mind boggling isn't it?! I know.

Anyway, I golfed last night for an hour and it went great. I think I'm finally getting good enough to actually call myself a golfer. Seriously, I hit it most of the time and actually hit it correctly and off it flies. When I started, I was just darn happy to hit it at all. Yes, I was happy but my body and my back were not. I think that the weights the day before left me sore, then I golfed and didn't stretch, Nada. Went to bed and tossed and turned (thank you to caffeine I should not have drank) got up and had nothing to do and no one online to chat with. Poo. Went back to bed sore and tired and had numerous visitors from 5am on. Then Doc leaves at 5:30 and won't be home till late because he goes from clinic straight to the ER for tonight. Yup, I wasn't looking at this day to happily.

Then things changed. You've heard my sob story, now the good. I finished painting 4 of the dining chairs, hopefully the last two before it gets dark. Started the table and got it sanded and half painted. Meaning first two coats. Then I did something crazy after I dropped off the little boys. I didn't run on the treadmill but did the loop. We have a path that spirals around post that people run on and troops do ruck marches on etc. Well its 4 miles if you follow the loop from behind the house up to the main gate. Run by the tanks (cool huh?) past the elementary and Junior high, down to the hospital and around the golf course to the house. 4 Miles. I must have been flying the first two but once I came around from behind the one side of a giant hill I was smack dab heading into the wind. That wind did not want me running. I'm a little sorry to say I probably walked most of the last third but I did finish in 47 minutes which isn't bad considering I pretty routinely run only 2. Then I go pick up my Monkeys and Doc had 40 minutes between clinic and ER and that wonderful gem of a guy drops off cookies for the boys and a nice yummy frapaccino for me. Heavenly.

I'm officially on the downswing of the week with tons to look forward to. Thank Goodness.

Broken Hand

2008-08-26T06:42:00.000-07:00

Well, we did it. We made ER trip #2 for 2008. See I was all happy about #1 being in the seventh month and then WHAM. One month and one more trip. Now we are racking these babies up. See One Hand Jack If you don't recall the last one. It involved motor vehicle vs. hand.

This one has a far more interesting story. Let me take you back to Friday at about lunch time. The boys have built a rather impressive obstacle course throughout the bottom floor of the house. I tell them as we are putting on shoes to head to school that it needed to get picked up BEFORE we go swimming later. Yes, Dad might even be home early and we were going to go to the pool just as soon as they picked up after school. Great, ok they are hyped.

We head to school and they are off to class. I go home and putter about picking a few things up, read, check mail. Then I get a call. Its the nurse. I mentally am thinking, ya ya, which kid and how bad. Its Jack and he fell of the monkey bars. His hand is hurt but she can't really tell how bad because he won't let her look at it too much. It does 'look' fine. He doesn't want to go back to class so I say I'll be right there.

When I pick him up he will stretch his fingers, move his wrist, only minor pains. Not screaming, just more of a hey I'd rather you not do that. Hmm, so I pick up his stuff with him from class and assure his teacher he is fine. We head for home and he mentions he'd like to start picking up/cleaning for his brothers so they are sure to be ready for swimming when Dad gets home. Sure. Great. I figure if he's up to it then he's ok.

We arrive home, he picks up. He picks up and helps me sweep and move things for an HOUR!! Yes, he was helping for an hour. I think that is actually a record for him. He did guard his wrist and not use it much but I figured he jammed it.

Ironic that the hospital lies somewhere between the school and the house and its the one day all week that Dad is NOT at the hospital, but across town at a meeting. He is on his way home as I'm going to pick up the other boys and tells me we should take him for x-rays since there are so many bones in his hand and wrist. Sure ok. Here I thought being all medically trained we'd go to the hospital less but he advises me to go more because now he knows all the myriad of things that can go wrong.

The great thing is my Doc really did know every single person and it was like social hour. We had to wait 45 minutes for radiology. No way to hurry that line up, but the rest of it they pushed us through ASAP (hooray for the benefits of working in the ER!) and Yes folks he broke his arm. Yes, lets recap, I picked up my child with the broken arm and brought him home and he helped me clean for an hour, THEN I took him to the ER and got him checked out. Real nice huh.

This first pic you are looking at the bump on either side of the wrist. See it? See it? Ya, I know, barely.

This one is much easier to see with the obvious point that the bone does not line up where it should

Seeing as I got to the hospital AFTER orthopedics closed for the day and it was a minor break, they put him in a splint for the weekend and he got his cast first thing this Monday morning. Don't you like the NEON Yellow he chose. He thinks its pretty cool his arm is so hard now. In fact its kind of a problem that now he WANTS to use it as a club. Doc said he was sort of smacking it against things all the way out of the hospital testing it. Great. This will be an interesting four weeks and totally foils the swim lesson plans but he does get the distinction of the first of our boys to have a cast. Not a break, because William broke his clavicle off his bike but no cast.

Waiting on Monday to get his Cast put on.

The Neon club, I mean cast.

Just as a side note he thought it was pretty darn cool to get to go with Daddy to work for awhile. I can't blame him but hopefully in the future its not because he's injured.

Manitou Springs Colorado

2008-08-25T07:00:00.000-07:00

This weekend we took the opportunity to explore some of the area. I know it seems like a given and we intend to do things but before we know it we've lived here 8 months and only now did we go to see the local cliff dwellings. Would you believe these are 20 minutes from our house!

Max facing the dwellings with his back to the amazing view.
Jack checking out the living arrangements. He's not looking through a window but a door!

Another view from the balcony of the gift shop and museum.

Me and my Monkeys

All 4 of my boys climbing around the dwellings

Friday Foto Fiesta

2008-08-22T06:17:00.000-07:00

My Friday photo is my proud little commander. Daddy was home from work and changed and someone stole his ACU top to wear for himself. He thought he was so funny.

The commander and Doc
(To participate go to Candid Carrie and you can post your Fun Foto's!)

Randomness

2008-08-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

This morning I innocently went into the laundry room to change over my whites and I hear the following.

"Crap. ..... Crap. ..... Crap. ..... Crap."

Wow, I thought, my child either got a serious potty mouth over night or he's just being really supportive of someones constipation issues.

I return to room to find he is watching Diego. He is yelling, crab, crab, crab.
I still say it sounded a lot more like Crap, than Crab but then again depending on how you look at it, maybe I just have the dirty mind and it was intelligible as a sea creature and not a turd. Hard to say.

Highs and Lows

2008-08-19T09:38:00.000-07:00

I bet you think this post is about some good and bad things. Wrong! Its about a game!

Its a game we play everyday. At the dinner table once everyone is seated, we say our prayers and get started. When everyone is settled someone will start. They ask someone else, 'what was your High Low today?' Its quite simple really, you recount your high point of the day, the best thing that happened. Then you recount your Low point of the day, the worst thing that happened. It doesn't really matter which order you do it in and frankly I think we tend to do our lows first then our highs.
What might not be obvious from hearing this, however, is the details you find out about a person that you might not have heard about. I mean we ask about our kids days but sometimes the things they come up with for High/Low are things I didn't know ANYTHING about. Its great to hear about projects or incidents that made them happy, but equally satisfying to hear about a sad or bad incident to them that never came up, like how someone talked to them, or doing poorly at something. Its amazing what they bring up that I would never have heard about or known to ask about. Of course what ever the high/low is, we generally ask questions to elaborate on those so it is a genuine conversation not a list but its a fantastic way to include the whole family and learn things from your kids that you might not hear otherwise. Many nights they start the game by asking us, 'So Mom what was YOUR high/low?'

Yesterday was Mom and Max day. That's what we call Monday. I dubbed it that right before school started since Max won't have preschool on Mondays and we'll get a few hours just together. He seems to remember this because when it comes to the dinner table and everyone gets a chance to talk about their high and low points for the day he always says 'Welllll, its Mom and Max day!' I think this is so cute and hearing this lets me know he treasures it even if he doesn't talk about it all the time. (oh and Max's rendition of high/low is sometimes a rundown of all he did that day but its awfully cute to see what he remembers)
So that is our Family Dinner routine. We get through the caous of cooking and serving and running for 4 different utensils, a different color cup, Ketchup, napkins, etc. When we finally sit we get to share that moment of childish prayers and then High/Lows.

Confession #231

2008-08-16T07:00:00.000-07:00

What do these remind you of?

Seriously, not little plastic toys but what else???? Think about it. Its a creature from a sci-fi show that multiplies at the rate that puts rabbits to shame? Nothing?

Tribbles. Come on, the 'Trouble with Tribbles'.

If you don't know what I'm talking about you either are not into sci-fi or you are not a trekki. Understandable I suppose. I like Science Fiction.

My confession #231 is I am a sci-fi geek. I don't own action figures or anything. I have yet to attend any sort of convention and I don't own old episodes. I just happen to have watched every episode growing up and enjoy reading sci-fi and watching sci-fi movies. I grew up on them, (those and old military and religious movies on Sunday afternoon which I also have a soft spot for).

Doc thought this was weird but I think I've since converted him. He laughed at me. He might have even made fun of me and I know he snickered a little. The truth is he's seen the light. Or maybe he just appreciates that with my weird affinity for the futuristic dreams of hollywood also comes an appreciation for everything military and its history, including all shows and movies. I mean can a man not appreciate a girl who rents the latest war flick because I want to see it? Really? I think I might have turned down a few proposals based on that alone.

I like the idea of how we'd live in space, what adventures we'd come across and the romance of a whole other world. I think its really about having an imagination and appreciating things that are beyond us. Maybe if I lived about 600 years ago I'd have believed that crazy guy who said the world was round. I might even have been an explorer. Who knows. I do know I fall into the category of geek. I'm a sci-fi geek. I admit it and I'm proud.

*Footnote (just cuz they're fun) I will let you know if a convention is in my future but I have no plans to find one at this time.

Week One: School year 08-09

2008-08-15T07:07:00.000-07:00

My Proud 5th grader on his first Day!

He was excited to start school and has been doing good. He has always gotten himself up and in the last couple years gets himself ready and mostly makes his own breakfast. This year he's been helping in the library a lot. I find it ironic that although our school doesn't require uniforms it looks like he's wearing one the first day.

His brothers were so proud and wanted to pose with him before he walked to the bus.

Jack already had an assignement for day #1. His last name puts his show and tell day on Mondays so over the weekend Daddy helped him create a dragon. This is him with his creation.

Jack's first day. He kept squinting at the sun so this is the best shot I got. He has been having fun and is excited one of his buddies is in his class again. His only complaint is there hasn't been much time for free play but the travels to art and media have been really new and exciting. He also learned the letter 'L' this week and had a visit from a guide dog in training.

Finally it was Max's turn for his First day and there was a little contention over who got to be in his picture. I thought this was a really funny shot though.

My sweet boys ready to go. This is when they decided to compromise. They all loved having their own first day pics but then wanted to be in each others. Max was a pro this week. He seems as happy as his brothers now to go to class and came home singing a song about alligators last night.

Faux Fall Arrives

2008-08-14T07:41:00.000-07:00

This is throwing me off. School has started (sign of Fall, but really they just start much earlier here in August), the weather is actually changing (I wouldn't call it cold but all of a sudden we get rain and storms just about every single afternoon) and the third and final sign that fall has arrived despite the calendar....exhibit A
Yes, Doc found these out at the commissary. He nicely asked if I needed anything and I requested a can of peas on his way home. What does he bring me...Fall Crack. Yes this is my crack. I do not keep any candy in the house. Its just not something we ever have but here you have my Fall fetish. My candy de jour. My evil little friend.
He not only saw them, he brought two bags home! Its too early to put up my decor (I mean if it has to last till Thanksgiving..Thats 4 months!) Its not quite time to wear pants everyday and although school has started its early just yet.

You know every year it seems I hear of people anxious for Fall to arrive. I Love Fall. Its my favorite season. I love the cooler nights to barbeque, the pictures, the clothes. I try to resist the temptations of others to wish for it sooner because quiet frankly the sooner it arrives, the sooner winter arrives and that, although not horrible, is my least favorite season. Add to the anticipation of Fall, school starting. This equals school clothes which thankfully are seasonally appropriate in this state.

Therefore I have three official signs, School, changing weather and my Fall Crack.

The signs say yes its fall, but just a faux fall. I might have bought pants for school clothes, I might be sending the kids off each day. I'm enjoying the rain and cooler night temps and I am high on Fall Crack but I refuse to accept its time for that Fall decore. If I give in now, I might decide to put the Christmas tree up by Halloween and then people will start to suspect how much Fall Crack I've had and become suspicious. I must hold out.

Olympic summer TV

2008-08-11T07:23:00.000-07:00

You know its great to look forward to the Summer Olympics. I love the Olympics and was really happy they were being held in Beijing. The opening ceremonies were incredible and now...the best part is...when I'm bored, there are events on 24/7. I always wanted to go to the Olympics and the showmanship, the pride, the pure athleticism. Ahhh...makes for great TV.

I get a little sad sometimes watching the swimming that I never did make it but then again neither did anyone else I trained with and that gives me a sick sense of relief. I know its wrong but hey, not everyone can make it.

This doesn't mean I don't watch like a beer guzzling football watching nacho eating fanatic such as they portray on commercials. I absolutely am glued to the swimming finals and yes folks, when the Mens 400 free relay took back the gold (FYI they had 35 years of gold and then lost it the last two games) I cheered. No, I screamed before Phelps was even screaming that they won and beat the French bad mouthers. Which really only made it sweeter to out-touch them by .8th of a second to win after they said we were going down. What a victory! Then did I go to bed at 11 PM nope. I had to watch the medals ceremony after a win like that.

Yup. I love the summer Olympics. Winter is nice but Summer is my thing. The Gymnastics the Water Polo, Swimming (of course, though Doc and I both played polo too), the running the love of it all. Then again the advertising has got some pretty great commercials out too.

Yes, the Fall is coming. the TV stinks, the summer activities are over, but thank goodness for those Olympic games. Now I can be an addict 24/7 for at least a few weeks. How convenient!

Sooo It begins

2008-08-06T09:12:00.000-07:00

Today begins the school year. Well, open house anyway, and then TOMORROW school starts for one of the three. Ironically they are all going but not starting on the same day.
Tonight, in another of societies great ideas...the open house. To have every single student come in a one hour time span to run from class to class with siblings and meet teachers, find desks, parents barely keeping up and trying to make a connection to the teacher in my 2.3 second introduction...what genius. I have no idea how this started or why but its ridiculous. Can't they send me a letter in the mail for the teacher and then maybe...just maybe have like a whole day that parents could drop by with children to find their desk and meet the teacher. I apologize to all teachers who think that is a horrible idea, but why not get things done in the class and just catch parents as they come in. Misery...perhaps, but only one day and not the marathon hour of insanity and squished toes in the hall that I want to go to so I can get it done but loathe too.

My point is really just that the school year is beginning and for the first time EVER all my boys will be enrolled. This only equates to 4 afternoons a week of 2.5 hours of my own. Not the 5 day weeks of 6+ hours that most imagine but its the beginning that will lead to that. Its scary! Just yesterday I was thinking that someday they'd be in school. Time really flies which makes me sound old.
One in Fifth, one in Kindergarten and one in Preschool. Exciting stuff with lots of projects, drawings, and work to be showed off in months to come. The joys of another school year.

I like animals...

2008-08-03T17:45:00.000-07:00

Do you ever sometimes wonder why it is people love something so darn much. Yes, I've waxed sentimental over my coffee and carpet cleaner but forget that for just a second. What I mean is when they sign their pets names to Christmas cards or use them in main headings as part of the family.
I am starting to see, based on some friends, that those pets were all they had. Yup, they signed the pets names and had, we'll say a couple too many framed photos of said pets. It was cute and lame all at the same time. I always used to think it would be so great when they had kids and those frames were filled with babies and not doggies. It did eventually happen and now the pooch pics are almost entirely absent while the baby pictures have exploded on every available surface. (You know who you are and I love you and above un-named pets but the babies are way cuter.)
I like pets. In fact I like them so much that I might just snort beer through my nose if drinking and someone says they like them.
Why? In my haste to say 'THEY TASTE GREAT!' Before anyone else.
What?
They do.
We even play the game...whats on my plate. Do you know where each thing on your plate came from? Well, if you are reading this then I CERTAINLY HOPE SO! However, if you are a toddler its rather fun to let them guess where those burgers came from... "Cows honey! The kind that moo! YUM!"

How about Bacon, Sausage, Ham, Chicken (duh, that's a gimme), steak, ribs, burgers, ....you get how its played. No I haven't bought a cow for milk yet. I probably should since we consume a ridiculous number of GALLONS per week, but the problem being that as soon as I had to pick up just one too many cow patties (and I don't mean the edible kind) I'd hack the thing up myself for a few good steaks and fill the freezer. Can you imagine my pride?
Doc, 'What did you do today honey?'
Moi, 'Oh well cleaned up the yard and filled the freezer single handedly with meat for the next couple months. Oh and Babe no worries on feeding the cow again tonight. I took care of that problem permanently too.'
The glory of it. I almost want to buy a cow just to have that day of pride.

Seriously, I love my dog. I just can't ever imagine the day when I I have framed photos of him in any location much less a whole wall. I like him enough but when Doc is gone we don't get closer. In fact, I resent him a bit because if he gets needy I just can't be there for him. I have enough of my own needs and no Doc to help meet them that I don't want to spend extra time brushing, grooming and bathing the dog. And who is left standing at the back door in the dark when he (the dog) decided he has to go potty for 15 minutes in the middle of winter. Moi. Alone, cuz I can't make Doc do it if he's not home. Yes, you see why I don't become closer with all that time we have together. Instead I resent him just a little. I don't want more pets and I don't really understand people who love them so much they humanize them and make them a child.

Maybe someday I'll get the horse I always wanted. Or perhaps the jet black cat with big green eyes. I can't ever abide by a rodent because...THEY ARE RODENTS. Birds are dirty. I just can't help it, I think bird=dirt (did you know birds can carry Chlamidia!). Reptiles...I'm up in the air on those because well...I might live somewhere tropical and need a gecko to eat bugs. A dog...we have. I got him. He's mine. He listens to me above all others and I like that. He wishes he could sleep at my bedside every night. He is a nice dog and pretty and lets face it, I have three boys who need a dog to grow up with. Dogs I actually like, just not enough to do a wall in homage to him.

No I don't get it. I don't see how I could ever love my pets sooo much that I'm obsessed with them and refer to them on a level with my children. I don't really have a point to my opinions voiced here except to say that I love animals...I really do think they taste great! (You know you just snickered!)

Friday Foto Fiesta

2008-08-01T07:12:00.000-07:00

My Doc and I have been together for ten years now. This photo is not quite that old, but its the oldest one I can find and not too far from that. So my Friday Fiesta is a trip down memory lane comparison...Us Then.

Us Now.

(Don't forget to check out Candid Carrie for some other great Friday Pics!)

Summer Feats

2008-07-31T08:31:00.000-07:00

Well, I thought at one time I would post on Weekly feats but to tell the truth we aren't that accomplished. No seriously, there is not that much to tell. Therefore you get a seasonal list at this time to catch you up.
First and foremost I survived the summer with my three insane boys. They had a blast and I am tired. No really I had fun even though none of the activities I wanted to do the most seemed to work out.
The boys...all completed the summer reading program at the library. The theme this year was bugs. They read about them, got balloons like them and even petted some. (I need to pause here to shudder a little bit and try not to vomit) They petted cockroaches and even some sort of giant S. American Millipede thing. Although I touched the giant thing too and it felt like a plastic water bottle. I also realize how often these are used in movies to be the giant disgusting bug. The DO exist, they are huge but apparently harmless. This does not mean I will ever touch them again.
Ok, so they finished that and got some free meal coupons and we got some baseball tickets too. We've used half the meal coupons and have yet to make it to a minor league baseball game.

The other activity was golf. Obviously, I've posted about 5 dozen golf pictures so you know they went. They did great and Max even got to golf with me on the side. He also managed to take a club to the face. He handled it quite well really, with minimal tears and blood. I was very impressed. No permanent damage done.

We've jet skied and gone to the driving range. We camped. We've ridden our bikes and played out back with the hose. We've all read at least two dozen books...William included since he's been devouring Hardy Boys books. We've gone to the drive in and ate pizza in front of the TV. Its been a pretty good summer and late next week starts school again. This means several things.
1. Doc is entering the final 3rd of this phase...HOORAY!
2. The house will be empty 4 afternoons a week of all boys for at least 2 hours.
3. I will regain some modicum of sanity and maybe finish a load of laundry the same day I started it (this equates to how long it takes me to put it AWAY.)
4. We will stop eating pizza, nachos and burgers just about every night of the week. Maybe.

Pride on Display

2008-07-29T10:07:00.000-07:00

There are lots of status symbols in life, cars, houses, clothes you wear and things you do. But I am talking about the things that represent us. The things that show who we are and take pride in.
When you are young its team shirts and letterman jackets. Think of high school. You could paint your face and wear school colors and show it in all kinds of ways. Fast forward to college for those of you who remember and it was all about stickers and flags and again matching clothes for those exciting sports events. Now when in life does that happen again? Seriously, we don't really wear that kind of stuff or fly flags like that except for maybe an alumni sticker or flag for the local college team if you happen to reside where you went to college. I'm not saying we don't show support for athletic teams but do you actually WEAR or DISPLAY who you are in ways that represent you. You know...the jackets with all you earned, the schools YOU went to and such.
We don't wear our career on our cars. We don't wear our status in our jobs, like Freshman, sophomore, Junior, Senior and we don't fly flags for the company we work for. Unless....You are in the military.
I always think of that when I am behind cars. We've all seen support stickers and Army Wife stickers but I mean Unit stickers, Rank Stickers and flags. Seriously, its amazing and hilarious that it still happens in my little world. We have unit stickers on our cars. We have a Unit flag and well...yes Doc wears his rank. Literally. And you know what...I read rank. Maybe its one of those things that makes people think I'm active duty too but any good military spouse does it. If someone is in uniform you flick your eyes quickly over the rank in the center of their chest and possibly the unit patch on their shoulder. Why? Because its there for one, but just like that you have someones credentials right in front of you. Its not like I judge a person to be nice or kind or generally good based on this but it certainly puts you in a category.
Can you imagine if you went to the local school and by a discreet glance you would know where that person worked, how high up they were at their company and basically what economic class they were in? Seriously, that would seem strange, but not to me.
There are unit flags on the houses of commanders, but plenty fly on other houses too. There are banners that display whether a soldier is deployed and those are even starting to reflect how many times they've BEEN deployed. Its ironic to me that its hard anywhere else in life to go from school and school pride into a life where you still get to wear your pride every day and display your accomplishments. Strange...yes, but in a way normal. If you were able to wear your rank on your chest and fly a flag from your house would it make you proud of who you are and what you do? I'm sure not a lot of people could say yes. Maybe thats why the rest of society doesn't do it. I like having my pride on display and I like seeing what other people are proud of too.

Chocaholic

2008-07-28T08:20:00.000-07:00

My child is a chocaholic. He is too young to come out so I am doing it for him. This morning...he kissed the bottle of chocolate sauce. A lot.
He got it out of the fridge so I could make him his morning cup of chocolate milk. I wasn't moving fast enough for him. He put it on the counter and then kissed it again and again. 'Hmm, I thought, this is serious.'
This same child then gets his cup of warm chocolate milk as usual. He then asks if I'm going back in the kitchen? Not because he needs anything but so I don't see him add MORE chocolate and then cut himself a brownie. What did he eat for breakfast...chocolate. (and no I didn't take away the brownie because there was only two little ones left and I myself was debating brownie for breakfast).
I knew he loved chocolate. I have noticed lately that he wants MORE chocolate in his cup, the regular amount isn't enough for him anymore. It started innocent. In fact none of my children had chocolate milk until he showed up. Then the homemade mocha habit morphed into the kids having chocolate milk and WHAM! 3 years later I have an addict. Sometimes we run out. Little do they know I realize when we run out but I want to see if we can live without it. That's not addictive right?! I mean if I can go without it in the house for 3 or4 days then we aren't addicted. My three year old is not addicted to chocolate then right?....Right?.....Hello?

Its sooo annoying when...

2008-07-27T18:59:00.000-07:00

We get coffee and Doc doesn't finish his! That is like sacrilegious. I hate seeing those unfinished cups in the fridge because you know I sucked mine down like the liquid of life in 2.3 seconds. Not the home brewed stuff but stuff we bought at an actual coffee store.

I clean a room and half an hour later you'd never know.

Worse is vacuuming and within minutes (read as soon as you roll up the cord and put away the vacuum) something is spilled that you HAVE to get the vacuum out for.

The dog not wanting to go outside at night before I close up and then right AFTER I turn out the lights he HAS to go out and he takes 15 minutes!! (instead of the normal 1-2)

Getting up from the dinner table 211 times before actually even taking one single bite. (for Ketchup, fork, another fork, wrong fork, more drinks, a different cup, napkins etc.)

Thinking just maybe you can read a book (of course a library one and not one that belongs to me) while the kids play with water outside. So far the library hasn't noticed any water damage on anything.

Realizing you have time to workout but by the time you find tennis shoes and IPOD and get everyone settled and happy for the sixteenth time you then don't have time to finish your workout.

Promising the kids to go on a bike ride and then have to fill 3 tires with air after locating bike pump and in the meantime someone took off their shoes and one helmet is missing. Then...it rains.

Speaking of shoes...buying them new shoes and then getting home and the next day they refuse to wear them.

Messages from friends when I haven't heard from them allllll day or WEEK and its right when Doc gets home. Like they couldn't get ahold of me when I was bored (the other 13 hours in my day).

Renting a movie for just Mommy and Daddy and being too tired to watch it. Side note, being too tired because kids went to be late and you were too nice to stop answering hypothetical questions that were too funny not to respond to. For example...if you are an old man and you die do you just become gone or do you then be a one year old...changed to in a tummy. (translation do you just die and go to Heaven or are you reincarnated...he chose reincarnated) Or...where is Heaven? Cuz if its on Earth then I'm not going...too boring. This lead to discussion on WHERE exactly heaven is. Too cute to pass up.

Ok, last one for today...when I have my really cute knee high black leather boots and have to admit after squishing feet to death that they haven't really fit since last baby. How did feet grow another size after THIRD child I'd like to know?! Now I have to buy new boots (but that is not ALL bad, just kinda bad until I buy them since I have now admitted I can't wear the old ones).

Bears about

2008-07-24T09:29:00.000-07:00

Well, we were putting away the camping gear I cleaned on Monday night. I washed the car and vacuumed it and even cleaned the carpets. Then I laid out all the gear that could be hosed off and left it to dry in the sun. When Doc came home he helped me pack it all back up and stack it in the garage. I then went inside to get dinner finished and on the table.
Then I heard voices. I was wondering who he was talking to and why? Lots of things came to mind but I had no idea what until he came inside. The white unmarked SUV that had gone by was the post police and they just wanted to let us know there was a bear in the vicinity of our neighborhood and apparently he was not scared of people. I have no idea how they knew this unless someone called it in, but they put bear traps on the edge of the golf course by our housing and went zipping along the back paths to find him. I guess they did because we didn't hear anymore about it but it sure got the boys excited.
Every single day at dinner since then Max tells us they caught the bear. Not that I want a dangerous bear in my neighborhood but it is kind of cool and I wouldn't be sorry if since he's already here I got a chance to see him lumber by on his way to a good snack in the bear traps.
Speaking of which, bear traps look like a trailer with a giant can on the back. Think white trailer you hitch to a truck and on top (and attached) is what is basically a round barrel looking thing (like an over sized barrel on its side...all white) with some sort of bar attachment on top which obviously you set to come down and seal.
Now if you ever see one, you'll know... Bear trap. What unexpected and interesting things we are learning here in Colorado.

Best of the Beach

2008-07-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

Our lovely home for 4 days.

View of our setup from atop the higher sand. It cut down next to the beach. We all parked the trucks there and set up our canopy's side by side. By the 2nd day we could have this all setup in minutes. Ski's and boats in the water and food all out on collapsable tables for everyone.

Doc taking Maximus and another girl (Sydney) out on the Ski.

Me building a sandcastle with the little kids.

My Dolphin Jack (He was barely OUT of the water when we were at the beach)

One guess who this is? (Hint: read the shirt)

Boys climbing trees at the camp ground. William on top, a friend (Justice) in the middle and Jack on the right.

Our Family at the Beach!!

Vacation Shenanigans

2008-07-21T18:00:00.000-07:00

First night at the lake was a bit rainy and cool. The adults all set up and were sitting around. Doc and I had enough of that so we decided to take the kids down to the lake. We ended up filling the back of our suburban with kids and just us and we took them down and paddled around. We had a blast and ended up in a mud fight with them that lasted about thirty minutes. We got back and showered and had dinner but I'm so happy we went down and didn't waste the evening sitting around. The Kids loved it too, but who doesn't love slinging mud! What a gorgeous view too!
William was trying to get this girl. Don't feel bad for her though. She got just about everyone wet with squirt guns etc. I did however toss her off the back of the ski half a dozen times so I feel fine about that. Then again water sports are definitely my game.

This is how tubing went. Drag someone around WAY too fast until they fly off. And fly we did. I think we probably went too fast. I understand the meaning of wanting to let go and maybe not being able to hang on but afraid to fall because you know its going to hurt...a LOT. Several people did visible flips off the water.

Maverick is my competitive nemesis. He calls me 'loser' and I call him 'loser'. Its an affectionate term for our continued efforts at winning. This weekend though I beat him. I am a faster swimmer. I still got it! (I'm sure he'd like to point out he can run 2x's faster than me, but whatever, I'm better in the water). I like to win!

Boys and toys. All we need to do is buy a little pool and anchor a ski in the middle and they'd be happy enough. Silly boys!

You know that place, like that place

2008-07-21T09:20:00.000-07:00

Well, we are back. We had 4 fun filled vacation days in the beautiful state of Nebraska (note the added star to our travels!) We have never been to Nebraska and it was gorgeous, albeit empty. Our travels didn't involve any cities or large areas so therefore we mostly saw farmland. It was still beautiful just not a lot of people.

Traveling always leads us through lots of little towns. This then leads to the following statement...'You know this place reminds me of....(Fill in the blank.)'

The response...'Ya!' Or 'I was thinking it looked a lot like...(again fill in blank)'

Note the photograph below...very much like Idaho, minus the snow we saw there in December.

We've been to so many places that we start to laugh after we start it up again. Everything reminds us of something, which on one hand makes everything interrelated and the more you travel the more things are the same. Then again it makes us think how much we should probably appreciate places as unique and for themselves vs. always comparing. Hard to do in tiny towns that really do look the same. Sometimes the road kill varies, the signs, but essentially they all look the same.

Doc thought this sign was funny. I've seen these but they are ironic. There was a prison in this tiny town. It also had criteria signs for riding your bike on the highway. The highway! So you can't pick up hitchhikers but you can ride your bike on the side of the highway. Ok, minus the danger factor of bikes, then couldn't an escapee just jump a guy on a bike and ride off on it. It might not get him far but how ironic.

The following is unique so far. This sign was at the McDonalds in a tiny town in NE Colorado. Seriously, apparently if you ride your horse in or just have a dog with you, you could put them in the Kennel provided. I assume this is opposed to taking them inside. And if you brought your horse to McD's anyway could you just 'ride' through the drive up?

So it was all new but then again it reminded us of that place...you know the one?

Swimmer's Dilemna

2008-07-16T10:03:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm having a dilemma this morning and I was trying to figure out which girlfriend I could call that would give me the answer I want. Not the right answer, the right answer to ME!

You see if you've read my blog at all you know I was a swimmer. This means that at all times in my life since the age of 9 I've owned no less than 5 suits at a time and that is a low number. There have been times I've owned at least a dozen. Some were workout suits, competition suits, leisure suits, lifeguard suits...you get the point. And yes I do have fins for feet. I'm often bragging about my enormous fin feet.

Here is me dilemma. We are going camping. Why? Not because I enjoy sleeping on the ground and yes I have a cot, but because there is a lake. Yes a nice big lake where we are going to jet ski and wake board and innertube and probably come back with multiple injuries and bruises because its only 4 days and the one day trips illicit plenty of injuries. Not to brag about injuries, I'm just stating the last trip out, I pulled my shoulder and Doc broke a rib. In fact we laughed like loons because we had a dam good time doing it but you see my point. Anyway, besides coming back bruised, exhausted and totally happy I have to figure out my wardrobe. The after beach part is easy. I threw in a couple pairs of shorts, a couple tops and a sweater for when it gets cold. My bigger problem is the suits. You see each boy has at least two pairs of trunks and two swim shirts. They are all going. (And this is where I segue to say that yes I go gaga over girls suits and if I had a girl she'd probably own no less than 20!) Anyway, I own a few surf shirts (all going) and a few bikinis and a couple one piece suits. I know at least two bikinis are going but is it wrong to take 3? Should I take a once piece in case in my euphoria the surf shirts DON'T work to keep my bottoms on? I don't love the one piece suits though and even then 3 bikinis is a new one each day plus a fourth day of a repeat.
Is this too much? My inner swimmer says NO! I could wear the same one the whole time and its camping for gosh sakes but a girl needs options!
Ok, so if your answer isn't take it ALL then I probably don't agree but I am looking for reassurance that I'm not nuts. This post may prove, however, that I am nuts but I think I NEED my suits!

Tournament Update

2008-07-16T08:45:00.000-07:00

My Proud Golfers

Well our last day of Summer Golf Camp went great! We avoided injury and storms both! It took forever for so many kids to play but they had a great time. William placed 5th for the boys in his group out of about 30 kids. I am impressed with that because I know given his latest spurt of growth he seems to still be finding his new groove. Jack did not fair so well but his age group was ALL over the board and honestly none of them are good at this age, but lots of fun to watch. Plus he's the youngest in his group too so I think that he is having fun is more than enough. They got medals to show for it and were proud to pose with them after stuffing themselves with hotdogs, nachos and soda at the awards lunch.

Fingers crossed

2008-07-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

Its our last Tuesday of Junior Golf Camp.
Last week was good, minus a couple things. First the boys were great, the course was fairly empty and I got to relax and oversee them as a storm moved in over the mountains.

Then....this first golfer here....the one putting

Hit this Golfer here. Note he is driving.
You'd think it would be the other way around and no one was actually swinging. Just sort of holding the club and it was casually swinging in the air with no force..right into the nose pictured.

Thank Goodness it actually hit just above the bridge and didn't break it. It did bleed and left two marks. One you can see that bled and then higher up between the brows.

He decided to just kick back a bit after taking a hit. He needed a moment apparently, but he wasn't done for long.

My fingers are crossed, that this, our last day of summer Golf camp, goes better. Meaning maybe they don't do great in the tournament but perhaps they could at least avoid hitting each other with the club and maybe we won't get rained out.

Sometimes I wish...

2008-07-14T10:22:00.000-07:00

So I was reading blogs this morning. Yes, I'm a blog stocker. I even read blogs that I don't know the people. Or know through a friend, through a friend. That works right?

Anyway, she was a swimmer and I was a swimmer and oh the memories. She was waxing sentimental about getting back into swimming and never feeling like you hit your prime etc. I have to say though that Dara Torres is giving the rest of us female swimmers a bad name. I mean I don't have time at (NOT the age of 41!) to train and compete and spend hours and hours at the pool. Then again I watch the trials and I can almost feel it!

Did you ever do something so much and so well that you know exactly how something feels? I can feel it in my bones and I haven't done it in so very long. The starts, the strength of diving off the blocks and euphoria at how far and fast you can go. I can feel the water and the strokes and the breathing. Most importantly I can feel the speed. I know what it feels like to go fast. Not a little fast but competitive swimmer FAST! Good competitive swimmer fast and yet I never reached my prime. I think I could have done better.

It is almost an ache to watch them swim and feel inside me what its like to cut through the water and to breathe and to turn. The burn of my lungs in a race off the turns when you are trying to make those streamlines count. The ability to catch people, to work your ass off and yes maybe even to feel like you might throw up a little. Or how about a 200 fly that you sprinted and felt so fast and strong and great until the last 10 yards when you are moving your body and using all your strength to keep a rhythm that you can't even feel anymore because your arms are numb. Ok, so most people don't think of that but I do sometimes. When I watch swimming or think of racing it all comes back so easily.

Do I want to train...no. Not really. I just want to be fast. I don't want to spend hours and hours in the solitary pool and certainly not without others to keep my competitive nature alive and make me keep coming. I don't have the time nor the inclination, but sometimes, just sometimes I can feel it and I want to dive into a pool and swim and swim and swim. I want to, but I know it won't be the same. I won't feel fast and strong and at ease the way I used to. I know I'm a great swimmer. I'll never lose my form or love of the water but that speed can never be there without hours and hours of motivation that I just don't have. Still...I can feel it and sometimes I wish I could have that speed again.

One Hand Jack

2008-07-13T08:39:00.000-07:00

So yesterday we made one of our annual trips to the ER. Yes, its now official I think, we make at least about 1 trip a year. All three boys have been, but Jack is easily leading with the most trips.

What happened now? Motor Vehicle Door closed by well meaning sibling vs. 5 year olds hand.

Well, we were getting ready to go out and the eldest two go out to get in the truck while I go in the kitchen to grab cups. Dad runs back upstairs to get socks for Max and then there is screaming. No biggie. We don't run at the sound of screaming. I grab a hand towel to wash my hands and walk out of the kitchen towards garage door as my Super Secret Agent come in with his hands clasped and full of blood.
Ironically, or luckily he managed to not get any on his clothes or my clothes or the carpet. I called Doc and start looking for any hanging digits as he mumbles something about taking on a door. No hanging digits, but they were pretty nasty so we cleaned him up and checked him out and decided to go make sure nothing was broken.
Needless to say the trip out didn't happen until we left the ER about an hour and a half later. (Which as a side note I was wondering how long we'd live here before going in and Doc knowing everyone there. It was pretty neat.) So far so good. He has a splint and a possible fracture down by the knuckle of the finger that took the brunt of the damage. For now we wait a couple days and see what Radiology says.

I was giving him a bad time afterward that I was going to call him Captain Hook. He said no so I started making up new names and finally in his laughing he says, 'No Mom! I'm One Hand Jack!'
What a riot. He did, however, check first thing upon getting home that he could maneuver enough to play his X-Box. Priorities you know.

Open Letter to my Bro

2008-07-12T13:29:00.000-07:00

Dearest Brother,

You dirty no good son of a ....wait....we have the same parents. Ok, just kidding Punk. My brother calls me punk, so therefore I dish it right back...so listen up Mr. Punk. I know you check my blog...see that little feejit bar on the side that says who comes from where?
Ok, right, so now you see it. I'm thinking that it might be coincidence that someone from Tokyo has happened to check my blog about once a week since you moved to Japan. Yes, my totally awesome brother lives in Japan. We both majored in International Interactions and focused on East Asian studes. He, however, speaks Japanese and I speak a little french. (Very little these days!)
Ok, so back to my punk. Its not that I actually care what you do there. Although, I really love all the pics you've sent me. Very cool! I don't need more pics but it'd be nice if you let me know every once in a great while....since you obviously have time to look at my blog, that you are, in fact...ALIVE! Yup, just send me a brief comment, note, email, etc outlining just about anything.
For example:
'What up punk! I rock and you don't. Later.'

That is a good minimum. Something else might involve asking after the kids, updating me on the job, the living, etc. Not necessary since I'll take just about the miminum but still I believe it now falls to me since our Mother isn't going to remind you to use your manners (did they ever tell us that?!) that you should let your loved ones know you still exist. Yes, just the fact you merely exist is quite enough. Now that I don't live with you I don't have to curse you and your stink I can live with just the fact you are out there.
So stop being a lame punk and email me or send me pics with your stolen camera.

Sincerely,
your uber awesome totally amazing 'little' sister

The view

2008-07-10T10:05:00.000-07:00

Well, I have been having trouble uploading pictures to blogger the last few days and when I do get one it then won't let me do more...I'm confused. Anyway, here is a picture I took on Tuesday from the Golf course. Its a panoramic so YES you are seeing double. That is Jack in the photo twice. He moved during the last two shots so he's in it twice. Anyway, That mountain is in my backyard and I got to sit in the beautiful weather and watch the boys play and even accidentally whack each other in the face. (Ok, that was only once and I assure you he's ok.)

This storm was moving in over the mountains over the hour we were there and it got to us just in time for Jack's class, so his was canceled. At least we got to enjoy being out for a bit.

Independence Weekend

2008-07-08T07:30:00.000-07:00

Well, its been several days since posting and we have been super busy.
Thursday was the 4th on the 3rd here...yes apparently much of Colorado is screwed up but I won't get into that or I'll have a novel of why I'm annoyed by that. Regardless, we went to a display and had fun

Friday for the actual fourth we spent the day at the lake inertubing behind the seadoo and hanging out. We all had a blast and totally beat ourselves up getting thrown off at high speeds. The adults all have bruises to show and Doc has a broken rib. Go figure. It was still fun though, so they are just battle wounds.
We finished the day with some more fireworks and BBQ with friends.

Saturday was all about catching up on sleep and a bit of pick up. Doc of course had to work in the ER, but I got to hang out with the boys and get ready for Williams birthday.

Sunday we did an Olympic themed party at the house for William's 11th birthday. I can't believe he's that old! Not only that but he got an official mark on the growth chart and he only has 4 inches until he's as tall as me. The real kicker is, he grew 4 inches in the last year so by next year...I'm in trouble!! We had a great time playing silly games, giving out Medals and eating Chinese food (since the Olympics are in Beijing this year). We got to hang out with friends and neighbors and William had a great time so I'd say it was a success.

Monday...I know its mind boggling right...how can we have this many days off?! (Seriously we haven't in....I don't know when and Christmas doesn't count because we were moving) We went to see the movie Wall-E. Its a lot of fun to finally be able to take all the boys to a movie. They all enjoyed the movie. Although, I thought it was a little slow and Max fell asleep for the last 15 minutes. That was great too and we came home to more Birthday cake!

A fabulous weekend and pictures to follow just as soon as I figure out what is what!

Olympic Training Center

2008-07-02T10:34:00.000-07:00

One of the things we did this weekend was go to a special event at the Olympic Training Center here in Colorado Springs. They are always open with Free tours and a gift shop. They have some pretty fun stuff and some athletes live on the campus year round. This weekend, however they had a special event with Olympic sponsors offering giveaways and some athlete demos in four events.

Walking toward the main building after watching a Demo. Doc is pushing the stroller and William is to the left. Ahead and on top of the main building is the flame.

A closer pic of the building and flame. Its on that white tower in the center. You can barely see it and the flame is hard to see without zooming very close.
Outside playing by the pond. Jack is on the bridge in the yellow shirt. I came out from the shop and getting some shirts and Doc was letting them run around this and I about had a heart attack as I watched my little commander teeter on the edge. Its all of 6 inches deep but the embarrassment of having my child go in, in front of everyone...priceless. (he managed to balance and escape the fall, but I still got an adrenaline rush).

Maximus with an Olympic athlete for the Pentathlon. They got their pictures with him after the Demo.

Evil Genius posing with one of the other athletes doing the demo.

This is the Demo we went to for Fencing. These guys are athletes in the Pentathlon. It is pretty high tech now with grounded sensors and everything. That is William in the foreground with his back to the camera. He volunteered to referee, which involved saying fencers ready...fence! After each point or missed point.

Tuesdays are Golf Days!

2008-07-01T07:16:00.000-07:00

Evil Genius...Putting.

The best part if you are a little boy.
Super Secret Agent Driving on the first hole.
The Commander and his buddy.

Take Two

2008-06-30T09:28:00.001-07:00

I give you the balding look....

Saturday afternoon I saw him lift his hat peripherally and thought his hair looked awfully funny since he was sweating and the back was sticking up more. I know I let it go after his last personal trim but I really was going to trim it up this weekend. Too late.

The second time I saw him take off his hat was head on and I got a nice view of his new bald spot. Its lovely and oh so ridiculous. He ran and hid then decided it was quite funny and came out being a goof.

He had to make a few calls to tell people about his new hair do after it got buzzed. And no it still doesn't match. There is one particular little quarter size patch that looks bald and the rest is trimmed to a 1 because I refuse to leave him bald. Its going to have to be good enough.

He's such a ham. Later that night while brushing he did really examine his new look and then got sad. He's not such a big fan of ALL his hair being gone. I'm hoping its enough to deter him in the future. He forgets unless he's looking in a mirror but I still hope he remembers not to cut it in the future.

Friday Foto Fiesta

2008-06-27T07:05:00.001-07:00

My thread has been hijacked. The Commander took it upon himself to take some photos this week and well...they are more interesting than mine. So he is doing Friday Foto Fiesta instead of me.

The artist and his dog

His view of the world.

Caught in his madness.

Stalking wild animals. These rare creatures often run naked and wild especially in the dark hours of night. Watch out for them while brushing teeth. The photographer was brave enough to catch a close up of this one on the loose.

Brought to you today by the Letters M-A and X and the number 3.

Click on Carrie's Site to find some more fun Foto's today!

Duties, Doodies or Dootie's?

2008-06-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

When I was about 3 or 4 I remember sitting in the closet of my older sisters bedroom in Riverton, Utah and having a serious conversation. I don't know why we were always playing in there but I think it probably had to do with saying or doing things we wanted to hide. Plus, I never let her play in my room because I didn't want it messed up.
Generally speaking, since she was 2 years older she led these expeditions.

I recall it was late afternoon and she was bestowing very important information to me. She told me quietly that girls have Boobies! I know shocking right. Well not really. OK, so at that tender age I was well aware girls had boobies. OK, sure, but then she gave me the real insight.
'If girls have Boobies she said, then boys have Dooties.'
Wow, I thought, Really? I don't recall commenting but just pondering the wisdom of this information. B is like the opposite of D. I mean, right?!

b and d See! Opposites!

Well if boys are opposites of girls and girls have boobies, then boys must have Dooties. Ok, I thought, Wow, that makes sense. Boobies and Dooties. Got it.

I went happily along for years. I am not sure I ever publicly referred to a man's Dooties. I mean do any of us really ever refer to man boobs at that tender age?
I didn't think so.

I have since figured out that boys do not have Dooties but a different form of boobies. This, however, has not changed the fact that I still think of them that way and maybe just maybe if you say Duties in a sentence, just the right way, and I don't mean Doodies like the poo, although that qualifies too...I might snicker.
Little do you know you are talking about responsibilities but secretly I'm thinking of Man Boobs and Full Diapers. I know...I'm so mature.

A nice trim

2008-06-25T07:00:00.000-07:00

See this sink? Notice the little blue safety scissors sitting to the left of sink. The comb IN the sink and the bits of hair all over.....What might this be from you ask?

THIS

The commander loves to get haircuts. Some people have problems trimming their kids hair. Not me. Never have. I start trimming as soon at it hits their ears. Not that they had much till age one but I'm not all sentimental about cutting baby hair. I do call It Angel hair because its all so soft and in my kids case, very blond. Still I cut it. They are fine with it.
Lately, even right after a fresh cut (either by me or the post barber) Max has been wanting it cut again. Today, he finally decided to take things into his own hands. This is how it came out.

On his side, however, you really can't tell too much when you are looking at him. Its when you are close and look straight down and in the flash of the camera it looks even worse. I can't decide weather to cut it (and probably make it more obvious) or just go with it for a week or two and hope not too many people notice. This is my only kid to decide to do some major cutting to his hair. The others took a tiny snip or two but this is defiantly the most effort I've seen. Now I just have to teach him how to clean up the hair in the bathroom.

Weekend Water Pics

2008-06-24T09:15:00.000-07:00

We spent Saturday out having fun on the lake again.

(I'm standing with lifejacket on, William is on the ski to the left and our friend..I'll call him Maverick since there is a resemblance with glasses on but mostly because last time he threw me off at high speed and we flew 10-15ft into the air, he's a speed demon and is on the right, Jack is in the middle on the purple raft.)

The commander...having a snack.
The boys posing on the ski for me. No I didn't let all three ride alone and the giveaway is that Max doesn't have his certified safety flotation device on.

William, poised to get someone wet with the squirt guns.

Waiting for it to warm up a bit before I get in.

Doc's super cool self portrait in a reflection off the side of his truck.

Junior Golfers

2008-06-20T07:40:00.000-07:00

Well, its Friday Foto Fiesta time! Plus I had to finally put up some of these photos. These are of my Junior Golfers the last couple weeks. They LOVE going to golf and they are so cute in their little polo shirts with hats and golf clubs.

William on the Driving Range
Jack headed over to the putting green. (I love how he looks like a miniature pro!)

Maximus their faithful caddy...for the moment. Max just loves being outside with me and watching and playing around. He can't wait to start himself next year, but he seems content enough this year to wait. He really really really does want his own clubs though.

This is my favorite picture. He isn't the one golfing but he just looks so cute and all boy.

To participate and check out some fun pics click on Candid Carrie's link in my Blog Fave's.

Dumb Bunny

2008-06-19T09:03:00.000-07:00

Let me take you back...back to ..two days ago.
I'm sitting at the computer going through some music I've downloaded and two boys are playing nice.
Third child comes home from playing/hiking/causing mayhem with his friend and announces they've found a hurt bunny.
'What?'
'We found a hurt bunny Mom...we brought him home!'
Ok. I pause in that most excellent parental manner and instead of asking why they didn't leave it or if they touched it (duh Mom!) and what the heck...I calmly think.
'Ok, WHERE is it?'
'It's out front on the porch..Can we bring it in?!'
'NO! Ok, um no. How big is it?'
'Oh, its not big!'
'ok, Um go outside and I'll be right there to take a look.'
I get my sandals on, check face in mirror to make sure I don't embarrass him and friend with crazy Mom hair and messy face. All is good. I head out.

This is what I find....

Note Cell phone for size comparison! This helpless, harmless size of a teacup little thing.

Following is a call to friend that works at vets. Call to hubby to tell him I think the bone on left back leg looks like its been punctured. I don't feel any breaks and it doesn't go all the way through but it is punctured on top. (Hey, I've picked up a few things helping my Doc study now and then.)
We wash with salt water, apply neosporin and put it in a box.

I look up rabbits and find that 95% die before 6 months old. Don't want to run it all over town to rescue group. Not sure it will live through night anyway, and hey its a summer adventure to nurse an animal...right?
Right?
Hello?!
Doesn't anyone else think that?!
No one I talked to did, especially Doc, but I thought it sounded good. Fast forward. These kids love the dam bunny. They named it. Monarch.
They over love it. We wash limb again yesterday morning...it lived through the night. I let them hold it (with gloves, as per Docs orders of all the crap it could carry, but this is hard when they scratch nose with gloves on and wipe face and go to get carrots out of the fridge. I did throw that bag of carrots away now)

We wash it again...I put away things and come back to find Max filling bucket with Bunny IN it. I rescue bunny with its nose barely above water. Tell them bunnies don't like that and take it away. He then gleefully comes and tells me that, 'Mom bunnies do swim, I SAW him!' Ok, sure...bunnies swim.
Great. I've let them just play with it now sans gloves. Lots of purel and the poor thing can in fact jump. It eats clover and nibbles carrots and escapes the box with ease apparently, although never when I'm looking. The whole thing could only weigh a couple ounces and yet, I can't have it out without fear of them setting it down...from three feet up. Or covering it with bucket as it moves happily through grass.
I'm amazed it's alive. It lived through injury, which is healing nicely but will it live through my kids. I'd Love to let them play with it but only if I hover like a worried Mama Bear and make sure they don't squash it by mistake. Dumb bunny.

Where it begins...

2008-06-17T08:26:00.001-07:00

See these guys from the show Miami Ink...do you ever wonder how it started? I mean when was it or why did they go for their first tattoo? I don't really ponder this all the time, never really, but then I saw what Max did on Friday and it occurred to me...

This is how it starts!

This is later in the day but do you see the smiley on his stomach region. Yes, that is a Smiley, complete with head, eyes, nose and smile. Its his 'fireman'.
He proudly came out of his brothers office and showed me his fireman.
'Look Mom! I have a fireman. I made it. And him has eyes, see. Like me. And a nose and his mouth!'

I found the telltale permanent marker soon after. I told him it wasn't going to come off for awhile and he was totally OK with that. In fact he was quite proud. This kid loves loves loves firemen, so why not adorn himself with them. I mean that's what a lot of tattoos are about right? Therefore, I've concluded he could very well have some real ones in his future.

Now look carefully, its hard to see in the sun, but on that right knee (the one to the left if you are looking) is flames. Yup, flames and he told me that one part of it is a hose. Then two days later when he fell and scraped up his knees, he happily informed me that the red areas were a fire and was thrilled he had a hose there for his fire.

And you have to give him credit not only is he creative, but he did this upside down and it came out great! Can you picture him in about 20 years...the hot tattooed tough guy fireman? This is apparently where it all begins.

Father's Day Recap

2008-06-16T08:13:00.000-07:00

We had an excellent Father's Day weekend, doing one of our most favorite things...going to the beach! This year we were lucky enough to have friends with a jet ski and went to the only available water supply (although very pretty when we got there and pretty big for a reservoir) and we Jet Skied and lounged for the day ...It was heavenly.

Max in his life jacket.

William and Jack waiting to take their turn right when we got there.

See all the rocks, this is where we started but the ground was awful. Not because of rocks but because you couldn't see them...it would drop off suddenly and then be fine and then you'd bash your feet into an unsuspecting submerged boulder and little sharp edges. Stupid Boulders. I got some really pretty feet today.

William and Doc out on the ski. We all had a blast and this is the spot we moved to after about an hour. Someone flooded their ski and left so we moved to the open spot on a flat area. Still rocks but more like a beach and not a drop off with boulders. Much better location!

We also got Daddy a T-shirt that reads: 'Daddy Needs a Time Out' He loves it!

And the boys and I made a stick flower bouquet while he was at work on Saturday. They had lots of fun taping construction paper flowers of why they loved him to their sticks and Doc LOVED it!