Military Family of ...Six

Hey, Remember Me?

2010-04-01T21:47:00.003-04:00

I'm back! I hope at least. It seems I have been able to carve out a little free time in the afternoons lately and the old urge to blog has come back! I won't try to catch you up on the last nine months all at once, not that anything too exciting has happened, but the kids are growing and all. Can't seem to stop them! Here's a quick clip of Aubie learning to snap beans. He's 19 months now and is becoming quite the personality; actually quite the strong willed personality. He is reminding me of Alayna!

Preparation Week

2009-08-18T20:50:00.002-04:00

We've now ended three weeks of unstructured, unscheduled, flying by the seat of our pants while ignoring all cirriculum with the exception of History (who can ignore History?), and while it's been a nice change of pace and perhaps a necessary bit of chaos mixed with boredom and bickering, the kids and I are about ready to dive back into life the way we're used to doing things. The official schedule is almost complete minus the fact that I left out time to actually eat breakfast this year and that won't work as no one in our family can fathom skipping a meal. Next to do are the chorepacks, setting up new notebooks, finish reorganizing the home education room, and probably 30 other things I forgot about but will have to tackle once the educating process has begun.

Alton is particularly excited about this year because I am switching him from Saxon Math to Teaching Textbooks. I love Saxon and had a hard time with the decision, but 9 months of frustration and we both knew things had to change. Teaching textbooks is mostly done on the computer and has less busy work. Those of you who have done Saxon know how overwhelming all the work can be even if you pare it down a little. I'll keep everyone else doing Saxon until they reach 5th grade then reevaluate.

I mentioned this last year, but want to post again for those that didn't see it. We us "Managers of Their Homes" for our scheduling format and chore packs. I honestly don't know how it would work with four if I had not come across this. www.titus2.com

Mineral Deficiency?

2009-08-15T16:47:00.005-04:00

Aubin is now crawling everywhere. He's figured out how to open cabinet doors and sticks anything he can in his mouth. We've had a new issue with keeping all legos off the floor because every day for a week we were fishing them out of his mouth. I think the kids have finally learned because I take legos away if I find them not put away!

He also enjoys the sandbox, but we have a little problem with him stuffing his mouth with the sand. So, we've been sitting him in the grass while we do yard work...and people wonder why we got to the trouble to do our lawn organically.

Swimming Lessons for All

2009-08-15T16:37:00.003-04:00

We discovered a little late in the summer that the kids could take swim lessons for next to nothing at a base close to our home. We just got in on the last two week session. The kids loved it and were able to all three have classes at the same time. It worked great because as the kids swam Aubin napped in his stroller each day. I don't think he even knew he went to the pool for two weeks.

Alayna anxious for her turn to swim.

Avery's lessons were only 25 minutes while the others were an hour. He had a little time to kill when his lesson was over each day.

Alton crossing the pool with his newly honed kicking skills.

Avery enjoying pool time.

Tea for Three

2009-07-13T20:08:00.006-04:00

Alayna is the persistant sort; very, very persistant actually. It works for her too. She gets an idea in her head and then pursues it until her poor tired mommy gives out. Her latest plan: a tea party. You're probably thinking that sounds harmless enough and that she shouldn't have to ask twice, however there is much more that goes into an Alayna planned tea party than you might think. There are specific groceries to buy, special dishes to display the food finery, the perfect place, time, and activities to be worked out.

When I finally settled on a day that I thought I could fit it in, she went full throttle. At least I don't have to do the planning once I agree. She called the two girls she wanted to invite and told them to wear puffy dresses and bring their fans. She was going to tell them what color their dresses should be so that they would be coordinated, but I discouraged that idea.

Today was the day, and by 11am I was completely spent with the preparations in addition to other things that came up as I knew they would. While it left a tired mommy, it left a happier little girl with some fun memories. Here are some scenes. All Set.

Plenty of yummy things to eat!

Time to dance and spin!

Already 8 Months

2009-06-14T16:15:00.003-04:00

Even big babies have uncontrollable urges to nap mid-play.

A Dietary Indiscretion Leads to an Unexpected Blogging Opportunity

2009-06-13T02:10:00.002-04:00

...Probably my longest title yet. It stems from a mind that is exceeding the speed limit with no signs of stopping. To what do I owe this state of things? A chocolate, sugar something or other, hyper-caffienated, iced coffee, spontaneously purchased at a weak moment is keeping me wide awake. At this point, I am not expected to arrive in dreamland anytime soon. Why did I do it? It was truly an act of rebellion. I've been working really diligently on my nutrition intake over the last two weeks and something in me gave in to temptation. I am in a deep state of regret and paying dearly for my choice. I resent the look of what I now understand to be amusement on the coffee barista's face when I placed the order.

Perhaps there are other things contributing to my lack of sleep. I enjoyed/endured a whole day of home school conference (with Aubin in tow) and I am inspired of course, with a million ideas and thoughts, and cirriculums fighting for center stage in my brain. I am completely overwhelmed by the new ideas and books and activities to share with my kids. It's exciting, thrilling, and oh-so-exhausting.

This, combined with the alarming amount of caffiene that I apparently took in has lead to time for reading a book, time for devotions/prayer, solving a scheduling problem that has irked me for some time, and now blogging. I am almost nervous because I've just about completed my to-do list. Well, I guess that's never true, but of the things that do not make noise and wake others peacefully sleeping away in my home, I am running low. 2:30am hmm....guess it's time to study some more aromatherapy as I have been meaning to do for weeks.

Sun and Sand

2009-05-23T21:50:00.006-04:00

The big day arrived and our neighborhood pool finally opened! After a mostly swimless summer last year, the kids were ready to dive in.

Aubie, who knew nothing of swimming pool bliss, began to sense something exciting in the air when he was dressed in a brand new Speedo.

Yeah, probably not what you were invisioning. This Speedo actually offers lots of sun protection!

Now he was all ready, but for what exactly?

Hmmm...not exaclty the response we were hoping for his first time ever in the pool, but we can't blame him too much. The water was a bit on the cold side.

In other outdoor fun. Rob picked up a bargain of a sandbox for Avery. It sits right outside the kitchen window so I can keep an eye on him. He spends a lot of time in it. Little did I know that he wouldn't be the only one to play in it. Alton, Alayna, and Aubin, all enjoy it as well.

Growing Baby

2009-05-17T21:39:00.002-04:00

Aubin is over 7 months old now. He's growing fast. Lately, he enjoys interacting with his siblings and "playing" with Avery especially. He has two teeth and two more that just broke through. Most of the time he's happy and easy going unless he doesn't get those important baby things like a good nap or a meal on time :)

And is it possible lately to have a blog entry that doesn't involve some incident with Avery?

This weekend involved a trip to the ER after Avery fell headlong into the corner of a wall and gashed his forhead open. We couldn't really close it with a bandaid and so we quickly loaded up the van and headed to the hospital. He was able to get glued back together quickly enough; no stitches thankfully. It's already looking much better and I think should heal with little to no scarring.

Thank you God for.....eewwww!

2009-05-08T20:51:00.003-04:00

With Rob gone to Charlottesville for a promotion ceremony of a good friend, I had nighttime routine duty. Normally this is my debriefing time where I get a few moments of quiet to myself. Tired as I was, I proceeded with the nightime routine of Bible reading and prayer. I did Avery separately from Alton and Alayna or I don't think the following would have occured.

As we were getting ready to pray, I quickly grabbed Avery's wrist in order to intercept the nasal by-product he was about to place in his mouth. Somehow I never dreamed I would have a child that had this habit, but he does and I want to gag everytime I see it. As I held his wrist I admonished for the 200th time, "No, that is gross! We don't do that!" As soon as I let go, he popped his finger in his mouth. Uggh! Sorry, I should've put a warning label on this post for the faint-hearted. I then went into a longer more dramatic admonishment. His response was only to look at me expressionless. I sighed and said, "You pray first." Avery is already quite adept at prayer, but usually sticks to the same things each night like thank you for Dad, thank you for Mom, etc...Tonight he had new material. "God, thank you for my boogers." God has heard everything now.

And Baby Dedication

2009-05-07T03:31:00.006-04:00

I just realized I left the important part of the Baby Dedication out of my last post. So here it is. This past Sunday while Grandma was here, we had Aubin dedicated. He took it very seriously and paid close attention to every word our Pastor said.

Here's some more pics of our now 7month old boy!

Grandma, Balls, and Baby Dedications

2009-05-03T16:04:00.003-04:00

Obviously it's been a long time since I've written. My computer time is all but gone these days for some reason and if I do sit down with 10 or 20 minutes, I have felt uninspired to write. Today's blog is brought to you by my Mom ,who were it not for her presence here over the last few days, I would not have these few moments to sit here, much less think of something to write!

Pa Pa as the kids call her, flew in on Thursday in cloudy skies. Soon after her arrival, I began to realize that most activities planned involved being outdoors. The fact that our van began having problems several hours later, also complicated any exciting adventures to be had. That being said, there was still plenty to do. Last night Rob and I got all gussied up for a Regimental Ball. With my Mom at the helm I was able to enjoy the evening and not worry a bit about the kids. Aubie especially, had yet to be left for an evening of more than a couple of hours. He is refusing to take a bottle (think I waited too late) and so I prepared my Mom for the hour of so of crying she was do endure. I don't mean I expected her to cry, but Aubie :) For the most part, things went fine at the house and no one was traumatized! Rob and I had a particularly nice time at the Ball probably due to the fact that the food was brought on quickly (I've waited til 8:30 before to eat at these things!), the entertainment was awesome and there was only one speaker (I've endured up to three 30 to 45 minute speakers at these things!). He kept things short and sweet, so the evening was perfectly enjoyable.

Rob and I came home exhausted, but still smiling!

Ten Years Ago Today

2009-03-29T21:57:00.003-04:00

Alton posing with a woodworking project he and Rob finished.

So hard to believe that Alton is now 10! An official "tweenager" as he enthusiastically announced this morning. So what is this 10 year old like? Well, he's humorous, obedient, creative, smart, helpful, and affectionate. Some of his interests include Lego projects (Star Wars in particular), Ninetendo DS, and guitar lessons. His little brother Avery worhsips the ground he walks on and follows him everywhere. Alton is as patient as can be expected about this. I make sure I guard some of his time each day because he's one of those kids that needs a few hours alone to recharge. He also has an ornery streak and likes practical jokes when he can pull one off. Unfortunately, Alayna, who is usually the victim neither appreciates, nor understands his humor. They do get along nicely on occasion. Alton is growing up to be a wonderful person and best of all, he loves Jesus!

This Whirlwind Called Life

2009-03-29T21:33:00.003-04:00

Another day past at the speed of light and it still seems as though not much was accomplished. This unfortunately is not due to the fact that I was diligently keeping the sabbath holy, resting and meditating on heavenly things. I was in motion all day playing catch up on a million things. Okay, there was the 10 minutes I tried to steal away to nap on the couch with Aubin's vocal complaints about sitting on his Daddy's lap to watch basketball swirling loudly around my head. After about 7 minutes, I gave that up and scooped him up to give him the quality time he was requesting.

Life here is well, different. It's more different than any other place we've lived. The culture here is so fast paced, political, and somewhat isolated as no one has time to really connect with their fellow man. Rob and I both feel like God brought us here, but we often wonder why. Quite honestly, Rob is miserable in his job and has close to no freetime to recouperate after the long weeks work. My sentiment is not one of misery, but more of frustration as I never end a day without feeling I left way too much undone. Each day in turn, seems as if I'm winging it and that lack of organization leaves me frazzled.

Regretfully, I realized how quickly I have become "one of them;" rushing around without a thought or care about the other people buzzing around me. The only way this was brought to my attention was when I went to Joann Fabrics to buy supplies to make curtains. After an hour of wandering aimlessly and indecisively, I scrapped the curtains for the day and decided on making a dress for Alayna. I recently bought a sewing machine and am itching to use it. Anyway, ready to have my material cut, I noticed that the procedure was to take a number and wait until it was called. I did and out popped number 46. At that moment, they called number 35. Ugh! I looked around and noticed three women working the cutting tables and eased up a little until after standing there for 10 minutes and realizing what was going on!

Here we are in a busy, upwardly mobile, rush around city where nobody bothers with anyone and at Joann Fabrics nobody seemed to know it. The ladies working the table took they're time and were talking with the customers who amicably chatted back. They even stopped cutting to continue their conversations and use hand gestures! One lady spent probably 15 minutes with her customer trying to help her find the perfect material for whatever she was making. I was seriously annoyed. Then it dawned on me how ridiculous that was. I realized how quickly I had disposed of my southern upbringing and gone right along with the flow of silly pursuit of I'm not sure what. Now mind you, I did have my reasons for being in a hurry such as getting home to nurse a baby and not leaving my children for too long at the home of my generous friend who offered to watch them for a spell while I slipped away. Still, however, it gave me pause.

I think to sum it up, God never intended for us to lay around relaxing all the time. He wants us busy. It's what we're busy at that matters and putting THAT into perspective is the challenge; one I'll be working on.

The Monkey Eating a Banana

2009-03-20T16:44:00.003-04:00

It's time for yet another story about Avery. Lately, you never know what is going to come out of his mouth!

While loading up the van yesterday, a construction worker working on the house next door was standing at the end of our driveway enjoying a banana. He was short, had brown hair, and tanned skin. I was juggling a baby and all the other things I seem to need to load in the car to go anywhere. I was distracted, but soon snapped out of it when I realized what Avery was saying very loudly,"I see a monkey eating a banana! I see a monkey eating a banana!" As there was no monkey, I realized he thought our little construction friend was a monkey. Horrified, that I too saw a slight resemblence, I shushed Avery in hopes that he had not heard. I quickly got in the van and left.

The van is not necessarily a place of refuge from Avery's mouth. We had to make a Burger King run today (yes we do that every now and then) because we were running late for Alton's guitar lesson as usual. While at the window waiting for our food Avery said of the lady working the window, "That old lady!" Yikes! I turned and gave Avery a be quiet stare and once again hoped that the comment was not heard by the recipient.

Okay, a quick Aubie update. He has good things coming in his mouth; two teeth to be exact. I just spotted them today. My last baby is growing up too fast!

I Want Your Comments

2009-03-16T16:46:00.003-04:00

Here is an interesting little video series I watched recently. I would love to know what other people's take on it is. Watch it and then come back and comment!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXcdo0kDhtc&feature=PlayList&p=3DD93625F1C78B1F&index=0&playnext=1

You Be Robin

2009-03-01T20:11:00.002-05:00

I was really hoping Avery would skip the whole super hero fascination thing, but as of about two weeks ago. He's started exhibiting all the signs and symptoms that I have already been through with Alton. I will say it was amusing the other day when he strutted into the library wearinghis Bibleman cape and all the librarians started pointing and giggling. Librarians giggling...that's not something you see everyday.

Most days he is Batman; which of course makes me Robin. Avery is the kind of kid that doesn't enjoy playing on his own. Since we're all home together each day he exhausts Alton and Alayna and so it often leaves me as a playmate. Not a real good choice considering how much I have to do to keep our lives running (notice I didn't say running smoothly). Anyway, I have learned that instead of putting him off saying I am busy, it is much easier to just go along with his game while multi-tasking. He will run up to me and say, "I am Batman. You be Robin." "Okay, what is our mission?" The mission most often involves "Puming" bad guys which is the word around our house for firing a large and dangerous weapon. I believe Avery coined it. Anyway, I will usually drop whatever I'm holding (unless it's Aubie) and take a couple of laps around the house "puming" with him. Then I tell him to go on the next mission alone while I "man the controls." In Mommy language that means get a few more things done while staying in one place. He is fine with this and off he goes.

I guess it's not all super heros. He often refers to me as R2D2. I don't play this role as well as Robin apparently because whenever I try to imitate R2D2 noises, he tells me to "Stop that!" Often he calls me clone Mommy. I always think to myself that we could use some clone mommies around this house. I think a lot more would get done and I could spend more time "puming."

Goodbye Faithful Lizzie Puppy

2009-02-16T14:33:00.003-05:00

Almost 7 years ago, you showed up at our door. We weren't looking for a dog, we had two cats, but you quickly won our hearts and became one of the family as if you always had been.

Obedient, smart, energetic, great with the kids. We couldn't have asked for a better dog.

Lizzie we'll always remember how fun it was to take you on hikes and camping; how you could scale rocks with the best of them. We'll remember how high you could jump, how crazy you'd act when reunited with us after a trip, and what a loud bark you had. I'll always remember all the runs we had together and that a two year old Alayna once said that you had chocolate eyes.

We're sorry we failed you; that we didn't know the consequences of over-vaccination and the ridiculous cycle that follows. I explained to the kids that you were in heaven now with a brand new body. When I was little at church camp one year, the speaker said that our pets wouldn't be in heaven. I didn't care for that guy ever since. We'll believe you're up there whether it's true or not and that you're happy and not suffering anymore. We love you and we won't forget you...

Not Your Ordinary 3 Year Old

2009-02-08T20:48:00.002-05:00

Avery demonstrates how to enjoy your birthday cake in one big bite!

With the beautiful weather we had today. We couldn't keep ourselves inside. After church and lunch we all retreated to the backyard to enjoy some sunshine. A strange thing occured after about 15 minutes. Avery came down from the woods in our yard and said, "I need a nap." He went in the house. He does this from time to time telling us he is ready for his nap. Rob and I find it strange and delightful that we don't have naptime battles with him.

I watched him take himself into the house and figured Rob would put him down since he had stepped inside. A few minutes later Rob asked me where Avery was. "Didn't you put him down for a nap?" "No" was his response. A few minutes later I went upstairs and Avery was sound asleep in his bed. Wow, that was easy. Now if he will over get over the tantrums that have appeared a week after he turned three...

I just needed a relaxing Bath

2009-01-29T14:51:00.003-05:00

Watching the first snow of the winter

Having made it through a day of school (homeschoolers don't get off for snow days), dinner, cleanup, and kids ready for bed, I handed off the baby to Rob and took my flu-ridden body up to my bathroom and locked myself in hoping to seek some relief from my discomfort in a warm bath. It's something I don't do too often truthfully. It's not practical. I don't have the time and it costs a small fortune to fill our bathtub. Tonight however, it was about the most practical thing I could do. Oh yeah, another thing I never do is lock the bathroom door. I don't know why, it usually doesn't bother me with three kids and a husband wandering in and out (Aubie doesn't wander yet). Tonight however, no one was getting in!

I settled down in the hot water and created a concoction of essential oils that I thought would doctor me to put into the water. I was soon relaxing and feeling just a little bit better when the first disturbance began. Alayna was talking in her loud voice. It's the one she uses most. I could hear her out in the hallway railing over something her brother Alton had done to her. Although she was venting to Avery, it was clear she wanted Alton and everyone else to hear her. "Alton is so mean and rude! He doesn't care about anyone's feelings!!" I then heard Avery sympathize in his most concerned tone "Ohhhh..." This followed after her every sentence. By now the two of them had made it to the bathroom door and were trying to get in because apparently Alayna wasn't sure that I heard her. "Mom, why is the door locked? I want in!" "Not right now. I'll be out in a little while, go find Daddy," was my annoyed response. Alton then arrived on the scene and the argument fired up again only this time Avery got involved. I'm sure he was feeling left out and so I heard him say to Alton accusingly, "You hit Alayna in the eye Alton!" This in fact, never occurred and so for a moment there was silence as Alton was probably trying to recall if in fact, he had hit Alayna in the eye and Alayna was probably trying to find a way to use this comment to her advantage. Fortunately, I heard them agree that this had not happened, but the arguement quickly resumed.

As I lay there soaking, I was wondering why my husband, whom I thought I had carefully briefed as to what was to occur during the minimal precious moments I was stealing away locked in the bathroom, was not with these children much less protecting me from the noise pollution outside the locked door. I decided to try calling him, "R-O-B!" This did not bring the aforementioned man whom I am sure knew he was in trouble by now, however it did seem to strike a little fear into the children who quieted down for just a bit until they too realized he was not coming. More noise, more sounds of trying to open the bathroom door. I sighed and sank my head deeper into the water. Perhaps that is why they made my bathtub so deep. They knew I would need to get as far underwater as possible.

A few minutes later, and Rob had casually made it upstairs. The noise subsided as he put the kids to bed. Strangely, with the sudden peace and quiet, I felt restless just laying there. I drained the water and got out feeling like I had at least enough energy to finish what was left of the day. Someday the kids will all be grown and out of the house and I can take all the peaceful baths I want, but I'm not sure that's such a good trade-off.

Beyond Christmas

2009-01-06T14:10:00.004-05:00

After a quiet but happy Christmas and New Year's we're settling back into our routine. Rob had a couple of four day weekends over the holidays and so we were finally able to begin some home projects we've wanted to tackle, the biggest one being painting the interior of our home. It's going to take months doing it ourselves, but we have a pretty good system. I do the bulk of the painting and Rob comes back and does the details. He is unbelieveably detailed...

Excited for Christmas

2008-12-23T14:59:00.005-05:00

It's easy to get so busy this time of year, I keep having to remind myself that I should really treasure the days and be more laid back about things. Rob and I won't always have 4 little excited people running all over the house giddy with the anticipation of Christmas morning. Okay, maybe only three are running around the house, next year it will be four.

The great thing about four kids is that the dynamics seem to change every year, especially with the space between their ages. Each one experiences Christmas differently.

Alton
Gone are the days when little $10 toys were a delight. His taste has grown expensive. He is very money conscious however, and so only asks for one or two things. He likes to give gifts, but can't resist a good bargain when doing so. We had the kids buy gifts for their siblings this year with their own money, which meant they had to save for awhile. Alton carefully plotted out these expenses. When he heard one thing his Dad wanted was a box of cordial cherries, Alton jumped at the chance to purchase them when he realized he could do so for $1.94.

Alayna

Christmas and all it's festivities are kept alive by this one. She eats, sleeps, and breathes the holidays. She is constantly under the tree analyzing gifts. She loves to give presents and will spare no expense to purchase what she thinks will please others. She spent close to $30 on Alton. Of course, all she wants for Christmas are her two front teeth...and a few other things.

Avery

He has probably been the most fun to watch this year as he really knows what's going on now. He is very excited and can't get enough of Christmas music. We quickly realized that we can no longer shop for him or others by sneaking things in the cart while he is with us in a store thinking he won't notice. Alton purchased a bulldozer for him during a family trip to Sam's. We thought we had been sneaky enough, but Avery keeps referring to the red present containing his bulldozer. He also brought the wrapped box of cordial cherries to Rob and said, "Daddy! Chocolate!" Apparently there is no fooling him! Mid-season we began purchasing gifts when he wasn't around!

Aubie

He's the easiest and most unassuming member of the family. A great Christmas for him will be a full tummy, lots of cuddles, and a semi-comfortable place to nap. It is always fun to have a baby around this time of year.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and enjoys their family as much as I do!

Visiting Santa

2008-12-13T14:52:00.003-05:00

We journeyed far and braved the obscene D.C. traffic just to visit the infamous Tysons' Corner Santa.

Scenes from our Week

2008-12-05T13:14:00.007-05:00

Life at our house is by no means boring lately. There just doesn't seem to be time to blog about it.

Here are some scenes from our week:

Regarding History which we all love. Me, because I'm learning so much I didn't already know, Alton, because he finds it so interesting and Alayna because, well, here's a quote:

"Mom, do you know why I love Europe?"
"Why?"
"Because it sounds like syrup."
Me looking at her with a blank stare.

Hopefully, she will get more out of the living history books we read everyday as she gets older.

Then there was the picture of James Madison I found with a speech bubble containing a quote I had never seen before.

Actually, Alton has me laughing more and more these days. His sense of humor is finally becoming more on an adult level.

Tooth Loss Mayhem:

Lately, Alton and Alayna have been losing teeth like crazy. I think there have been five in the last six weeks and both have more loose ones in their mouths! It was hard for the tooth fairy to keep up. Especially perplexing was the issue of what to do when Alton lost one of his molars last week and apparently didn't know it. He just woke up and it was gone...it hasn't turned up either.

These circumstances have brought about some questions regarding the tooth fairy. Here is a recent conversation I was privy to:

Alayna: "Lily says she doesn't believe in the tooth fairy."

Alton: "That's crazy. Where does she think the teeth go? I mean, why would your parents want to steal your teeth?

Alayna: "I know, they can't plant them to grow stars and all that."

I know what some of you are probably thinking, but basically my view is there will be far too many years of life facing very realistic circumstances and that every child should get as many years as possible to believe like only children do. I do not expect they will be bringing baggage into their adult years as a result of my decision. I have chosen, however to answer questions carefully these days and if one of them asks me point blank, then I will answer. That hasn't happened yet. So far, the only recent question has been when Alton asked me if the government funded Santa Clause. I truthfully responded, "No."

Innocent Village Savagely Attacked!

2008-11-28T20:30:00.005-05:00

Traditions at Christmas time are such a wonderful part of the season. Each year we try to do the same things we've done in years past because we usually have great memories of each tradition.

Sometimes however, it can be fulfilling to break tradition and do something spontaneously different. In my family growing up, we always opened presents on Christmas morning. We didn't dare think of doing otherwise, but I remember one year when that didn't happen. Every Christmas Eve we opened up one present; usually not a real big one. For some reason, that year, we unanimously agreed that we should not stop at just one. What occured next was a spontaneous early Christmas that left us with happy memories of breaking tradition. Perhaps we had a few regrets the next morning when we had already opened all the presents.

Now I have my own family, and have instituted some new traditions as well as the ones I grew up with. For instance, each year we put together a gingerbread house. In the early years, it was mostly me putting it together and the kids sneaking the candy. Lately however, they've been able to help out more.

This year, we deviated from the norm a little by purchasing a Wilton Minature Gingerbread Village. It looked adorable and perhaps simpler because all the pieces were so little. As we got into the process, I began to realize that it was going to indeed be far more difficult to assemble the cute little village of five buildings than it would've been just to build one house. I knew it was very important to the kids so I began to press on thinking it was going to be an all night affair. Rob sat holding Aubin and became noticeably strained at how tedious the task was. We didn't get past the separating of all the gingerbread pieces (each building had to have the pieces cut with a knife, it was like performing surgery), when Rob made a suggestion. "What do you say to just cutting our losses and eating it?" All activity stopped as we stared at Rob with mouths wide open. The nerve just to suggest such a thing! After a moments contemplation it sounded like a good idea to us all! I was so relieved as we scrapped the project and just gobbled it up. Anyone can admit that gingerbread houses are a frustating thing anyway because you can't eat them. Well, we did, and we liked it! There will be no gingerbread house at our house this year, only pleasant memories of the year we just ate it.

A Quiet Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T22:21:00.002-05:00

None of these pictures are from today. They are merely pacifiers for some Grandmas that wish they were holding him.

This Thanksgiving found us by ourselves. We couldn't really get to family and our friends all left town. I had pretty low expectations, but surprisingly the day turned out quite nice.

Rob wanted everything low maintenance. He didn't want a turkey, just a ham. The kids were disappointed at first, but in the end I think they enjoyed it. I made a few side dishes and bought what I thought was a pumpkin pie from Sam's. Turns out it was a sweet potato pie (they look very much the same) which happens to be the only kind of pie in life that Rob detests! He of course, did not understand how anyone could make this mistake when there was a giant sticker on the pie that said sweet potato. I didn't even see the sticker. It looked like a pumpkin pie to me and having no previous experience with a sweet potato pie, I was duped. The kids and I liked it just fine. Rob, for the first time in the history of his 38 Thanksgivings...went without.

While at the table we went around and said what we were thankful for (it would be un-American not to right?). Alton went first and said he was thankful that we had food to eat and that he lived in a free country. I beamed at this response because I attribute it to all the American history we've been studying this year. Alayna was thankful for a Mom and Dad and food, and when asked, Avery was thankful for...food. We did break out the china for the event so whatever time I saved in the kitchen cooking, I made up for washing dishes! I have a wash cycle just for china on my dishwasher, but I'm afraid to try it. Has anyone used this before? Let me know. The rest of the day was relaxing with stuffed tummy induced napping and watching three hours of Fiddler on the Roof. Don't ask me why. I thought there would be some good Christmas movies on, but no. Alton and Alayna actually watched the whole thing!

After the kids went to bed, Rob and I mapped out our plan of attack for Christmas shopping tomorrow. This year, Rob will go. Somehow I don't have the energy to tackle the traffic around here and the mayhem of shopping for Christmas!

Because Grandma is getting Annoyed!

2008-11-11T19:23:00.002-05:00

This is all I can do for now. He's almost 5 weeks old.

No Time to Blog

2008-10-30T17:43:00.005-04:00

And that is just one of the things that is not getting done around here. Even with Grandma Mary here diligently cooking and cleaning and helping out wherever needed, I still am not getting organized and when she and Grandpa Bob left for a few hours to visit some friends nearby, I realized just how much of a mess I am.

Perhaps this is partly attributed to the fact that I was still expected to carve pumpkins (an activity I am less than enthusiastic about) and felt that this was the only week I could potty train Avery. School right now is happening in random occurences. The kids never know when I'll get a wild hair and throw some history at them or recently a tin whistle lesson which I realized my kids were miserably behind in at co-op on Tuesday. I think I need a day to just sit and plan out how life is going to go from here on out!

Here's some pictures from the week.

Alayna has two wimps for parents. Neither of us can handle pulling teeth. Alayna had one that appeared super loose. I did attempt to pull it with some jewelry pliers, but my worst fears were realized when the tooth didn't come out and there was a lot of blood and crying as a result. The poor girl finally pulled it herself the next day.

Here is a potty training scene. Alayna is all about Avery getting potty trained and has been on me for weeks to get it accomplished. I have to admit she was a big help while spending the whole day in the bathroom. She totally takes over if you let her and is more than willing to escort Avery through the process whenever she thinks it's about time. She also tells me mistakes I'm making such as when I lazily ask, "Do you need to sit on your potty?" Instead of commanding him to do so.

Aubie is three weeks old today. He's growing fast (still sleeps a lot). We're thoroughly enjoying him!

Thankful for Grandparents

2008-10-21T19:24:00.002-04:00

My Mom has been here for 10 days and a huge help the whole time. She cleaned, cooked, did untold loads of laundry, changed diapers and waited on me hand and foot when I needed it. Grandpa flew in to join her a couple of days ago and added a lot of fun to the house. Now their visit is winding to a close and I'll have to go it on my own. I can do it, but that doesn't mean anything will get done around here.

Yesterday, they took the older two on a field trip to Mount Vernon - George Washington's beautiful estate. I was grateful to be able to count a day of school without actually teaching!

Tomorrow we'll go to a Harvest Festival at a large farm before taking Grandma and Grandpa back to the airport. We'll be sad to see them go!

The Voice of Truth...that can't be silenced.

2008-10-14T20:18:00.002-04:00

Alayna has always been one to say just what is on her mind. Her latest observations over the last couple of days regarding my post pardomness are blog worthy.

Yesterday as I lay passed out in a sleep that can only come from heavy doses of pain medication, Alayna commented on my apparent snoring habit I have picked up since coming home from the hospital.

"Dad, if Mom were a princess and a prince came to kiss her, he might say, "Ewww, are you sure she's the right one?"

Then regarding my still protruding belly later that day, "Mom, people are going to say hey when did you get that baby, and then they're going to say, hey when is your other one going to be born?"

Sigh...

Baby is Here!

2008-10-12T17:16:00.002-04:00

He's Finally Here!8lbs 4oz
20 1/2" long
Welcome to the Family Aubin!
We Love You!

A Mind Always in Motion

2008-10-07T19:26:00.005-04:00

Alton is the busiest kid on the planet. I have never seen him bored really. He is always, created, scheming, reading, or planning. A lot of you know that he aspires to be a comic strip writer. This is not necessarily every mother's dream for their child, but I encourage the creativity it takes for him to produce all the comic strips each day that he does. His main character is "Dingo" who happens to be a dog. Lately however, he has given Dingo a break and taken on some new inventive comic ideas such as "Shaggy Wolf" (my personal favorite) and this one called "Rat a Tat." I posted it because I thought the drawings were really cute and actually funny.

Obviously, I did not help him edit spelling or punctuation on this one. For school assignments he usually does well, but all is thrown to the wind for his own creations.

Chinese Checkers Champ

2008-10-04T20:20:00.003-04:00

I'm sure most families have a favorite game like we do. For Rob and I there are two; Blockus and Chinese Checkers. I realize that Chinese Checkers is not one of those new hip games going around, but for some reason, Rob and I love to play it. One thing to note: I always win or at least I used to, until a new champ recently came to town.

This summer Alayna learned to play. Since she has bad sport tendencies (she's actually gotten a lot better lately), I told her from the beginning that I would only play her as long as she realized that she would never beat me; that it just wasn't possible. She agreed and we spend countless hours this summer playing three to five games a day. I taught her all my strategies and tricks. One day, suprise, she beat me. It was by one move, but she won. I was astonished because I did not help her. A couple of days later, she beat me again and then a third time. It was starting to annoy me except that I was totally amused by the thought of her playing her Daddy who was completely oblivious to her new skills at the game.

The next week, I casually suggested that Rob should play her a game of Chinese Checkers. He was all for it and I stifled a smile as I cleaned the kitchen and watched out of the corner of my eye. Sure enough, she beat him by about 7 moves. His jaw was on the floor. Rob is extremely competitive and as much as he loves his daughter, he cannot handle being beaten at his favorite game by a 6 1/2 year old! This brought on the obsession. Every night at the dinner table he would play her over and over and over and get so mad everytime she beat him. He couldn't beat her once.

Finally, after a couple of weeks of this, he figured out a new strategy and was able to beat her. Then of course, he wanted to try it out on me, and won again which was annoying. He hasn't played either of us since, but Alayna and I continue to play often. She has been beating me often now and I don't know which is more annoying, that I am not winning against her or the trash talk that she deals out (I don't mean foul language; I mean pure arrogance). This I did not teach her. I can guess who probably did.

Ahhh...Finally, a Social Life

2008-09-28T22:42:00.002-04:00

It seems that it has taken longer than normal to make new friends with this move. Maybe it is because people are so busy here and don't have a lot of time for a social life with all the hours they spend commuting. I think it also has to do with the fact, that I am way pregnant and less out-going as a result. We've met hardly anyone in our neighborhood. We're practically the only family that is outside in the evening and being the only house on our culdesac at this point, doesn't help matters. Of course, I have dreams of having of inviting the whole neighborhood to a "get to know ya" type of thing; something I have facilitated at almost every place we've lived, but again, pregnancy has slowed down those plans.

The good news however, is that within the last 10 days, we've finally started having people over. Rob has to cook out of course, but it takes pressure off of me. We've been able to have 3 different families over and I'm motivated to have more. Don't ask me why the sudden burst of energy. Maybe it's because I realize that I won't be having anyone over for awhile after the baby comes. We've really started to meet some nice families through the homeschool co-op that the kids are in and most of them are military. We've also gotten closer to some of the families at our church. It seems we are finally getting a life here.

A couple of side notes: Aim (my sister), perhaps you passed your motivation to entertain to me for awhile. You can have it back as soon as the baby comes.

And for those of you who responded to my grocery blog, thanks. You've made me realize that I have a completely unrealistic and impractical budget for grocery shopping. I am taking measures to change that as much as possible, although when I polled some of my friends here, they were only about $200 less per month than what I spend. The food prices here are ridiculous. Rob contemplated this morning, having our own goat. I believe his motivation was more for not having to mow the big lawn so much than to have goat products in our back yard. I actually vetoed the idea as that is one more living thing for me to have to care for.

Grocery Bill Frustrations

2008-09-22T15:08:00.002-04:00

I realize that my grocery bill is always going to be higher than average because I insist on organic and all natural foods, but I am really tired of stressing over how much I am spending at the store. There are a couple of factors that have increased our bill since the move.

1) No good Farmer's Market in the area. How I miss the Farmer's Market at Memorial Park in Colorado Springs. I got all my produce there in the summers ( and I buy a lot of produce), most of it pesticide free if not organic for less than $25 per week! That is absolutely amazing. I am looking in to joining a CSA here, but I will lose the advantage of getting to pick exactly what I want and just have to work with what I get in my box each week.

2) The prices here are definitely higher. I would say I pay about 20% more for the same products I was buying in Colorado, very annoying. Our grocery bill is $1000 a month which was our budget in Colorado too, but I was getting more food. I realize some of your jaws are dropping. I hardly buy any meat, so it must be the produce?

After today's shopping venture, and spending $8 on two loaves of all natural bread, I asked myself, should I just be spending a whole day making some of these things from scratch and freezing them? Surely, it wouldn't cost me $4 per loaf to make bread. I used to make it quite often, but that was when I only had two kids and did not homeschool. The question still looms in my mind.

Another thing I don't get, is why my cart is always the most full cart in the store? What's with all these people that only have 15-20 items in their cart? Do they go to the store every other day? I shop religiously every Monday and then don't allow myself to go back in hopes this will save some money. I can understand why I was one of the few at Wild Oats or Whole Foods; most people don't buy everything organic, but I shop at a mixed store now as my other two stores are no where in the area. Why don't people buy more? If I were at the Commissary, there would be a lot of people with two full carts, so I don't get it. Do military families just eat more? I always feel guilty at the check out line when there are many of these 15-20 item people standing behind me tapping their toes impatiently.

So, do a little survey for my benefit. Here's three questions:
1) How much do you spend per week on groceries?
2) How many people are you feeding?
3) Do you buy organic or all natural products? (Okay, I suppose my motivation here is that if you are living off of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and Ramen noodles, I will probably not take you into account when deciding if I am just an out of control food shopper).

Happy Birthday Rob!

2008-09-19T08:37:00.008-04:00

Wow! 38 years young! And to think I've been blessed to know and love you for 14 1/2 of them!

Top: Age 17

Bottom: Age 37

Scenes from Our Weekend

2008-09-14T16:22:00.009-04:00

This weekend we took off on a somewhat spontaneous trip to Virginia Beach. We had a wonderful time. Here's a few highlights..Oh and the picture that is hidden, I just can't seem to fix no matter how much I mess with it. If you click on the part you can see, you will get the whole picture.

All Natural Dog

2008-09-10T19:16:00.006-04:00

Sigh...I always said I wouldn't go there, that I would draw the line with our dog. It is hard enough trying to feed the family as healthy, organic, and all-natural as possible. I can't be bothered with our loyal family friend Lizzie. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I purchase cheap, colored kibble. I've always bought the "best" organic brand I could find, but that was as far as I'd taken it.

Well, our high-energy, happy, bouncy doggie started to change over the last 9 months. She started to get some hot spots along her back and we soon noticed that she was chewing and licking herself almost constantly. I started to add some olive oil and aloe vera to her kibble and that seemed to alleviate it to some degree, however as soon as I stopped, it came back with a vengeance. She began to look so bad that we finally took her to the vet where we knew the inevitable would happen. Sure enough, they said she had allergy problems and put her on anti-biotics. Her problems seemed to go away for the most part, but we wondered what would happen when the medicine was gone. We soon found out. It came back worse than ever. She had new hot spots everywhere and appeared to be chewing herself alive. She spent most of her time sleeping and hiding under our bed. We were in the middle of a move and put off taking our poor miserable dog in to the vet, partly because things were so crazy and partly because we knew she'd just be put on more allergy medication.

We took her into a new vet who felt that it probably wasn't allergies, but Mange. So, we soon had an arsenal of new medication, a series of shots, and a three stage, really stinky, chemical bath to give her once a week. Once again, she began to heal. After a month however, the antibiotics were gone, the shots were over, the baths had all been given, and Lizzie started scratching again. One difference this time was that her problems areas were all under her neck and stomach. She started scratching herself til she bled and so we removed her collar. This seemed to help a little, but the problem was still there. Another troubling problem, she couldn't handle going on runs with Rob. She wouldn't run, only walk. She's always been able to out run him.

Faced with yet another trip to the vet, I decided I had to give in. It was time to learn about natural dog care. I checked out some books at the library and started carving out time to read them. I quickly came upon my favorite, called "The Whole Pet Diet."

Time to make a long story short. I now cook for Lizzie once a week. I make enough of a special chicken stew for her to last 7 days. No more kibble. I am also giving her a special oil blend, as well as parsely, and a garlic clove mixed into the stew everyday. The first week she had a healing crisis and her symptoms seemed to get worse. Now this week, slowly but surely, we are seeing some slight changes. Here are some pictures of her the day I started the new diet.

While she is obviously displeased with the procedure, the book suggested taking before and after pictures. You can clearly see how inflamed her skin is.

A Very Rainy Day

2008-09-06T13:42:00.003-04:00

Alton's latest balloon creation: Balloon Man on a Skateboard

Today has been interesting; really nice actually. This is our first experience with a tropical storm. Hannah is here and she is dumping buckets of rain. It's been going all night and day with no end in sight. Ironically, today was the first day they were going to open our neighborhood pool that we've been waiting for them to finish all summer. It will be open next weekend too, but we're headed to the beach unless hurricane Ike gets there around the same time. Oh well, I'd be pretty scary in a swimsuit at 35 weeks along anyway.

So, we've spent a leisurely day, well cleaning, but I am so happy to have a full day to do that.

"Fuming" Mad

2008-09-02T20:28:00.004-04:00

Public Menace Truck

Okay, so tonight I could've blogged about the kids first day at their new homeschool co-op and maybe I will tomorrow, but tonight, I am too preoccupied and infuriated by something that I consider to be one of those heinous things that go on in our culture, that we are apparently just to except as normal.

We spend a lot of our evenings outside. We have the culdesac all to ourselves. There are no other houses on it. I suppose we feel like we own the nice round piece of asphalt in front of our home that has provided us with many hours of fun since we've moved here, hitting tennis balls, riding bikes, trikes, little trucks and fire engines, and the go-cart that Alton and Rob made a couple of years ago; not to mention the time spent playing with the remote controlled hovercraft. We used to have a remote-controlled airplane as well, but ever since it landed in the gutters of the house closest too us, well, that's the end of that. Anyway...I was saying that we feel like we own it.

Tonight's events jarred us back to reality reminding us that the streets belong to the city or county or some other government agency, not us. As we were all hanging out front tonight in our yard, an odd-looking truck pulled onto our culdesac. This of course, got our attention, as not too many vehicles pull in there. As we stood there staring, he started gesturing with his hands at us. We discussed among ourselves and could not understand what he was saying. Next, his big truck puffed a chemical haze a few times making a menacing sound. Rob began walking towards the truck and then noticed it said mosquito control. Not being able to think fast enough, we all walked into the open garage and stood there as the truck drove around our circle spewing it's noxious gas and then carried on down other streets as neighbors walked on sidewalks pushing strollers, riding bikes, etc...

We were in complete shock. Is this a normal thing here; just randomly driving down streets spraying for mosquitoes? The haze began to dissapate, but our time outside did not feel safe anymore and we soon wrapped up our outside activities and went in. We felt an injustice had been done here. Do we not have more control over the air we breathe than that? Was the little cloud really going to kill all the mosquitoes in the area? We didn't ask for that. We use an herbal mosquito repellent and it works just great. Why is it up to the government to control the mosquito population? This registers as one of the stupidest things my tax dollars have ever gone for.

As soon as we got in, I went to the county website and quickly found out about their mosquito killing program. Here is part of what they said about it,

"Treatment is accomplished using truck-mounted spray machines on public roads. This suppression tactic affects adult mosquitoes in the immediate area of spray and at the time of spray only."

Really. So driving down the streets randomly spraying chemical is going to control mosquitoes? Why was he so determined to come onto our culdesac when we are the only house? I further found that they were supposed to send out a postcard a day or two in advance. Had this been the case, I would've called and told them to stay far away. Now as it is, I will be calling to give them a piece of my mind. I used to be timid about things like this, but I've gotten run over enough by people and institutions etc, that I simply don't mind turning into a bear every now and then, especially when it comes to protecting my family's health. Absolutely ridiculous. I am furious! And people wonder why I believe in conspiracy theories. It's things like this, that just don't make any sense.

Just Don't Call Him a Balloon Clown

2008-08-24T09:29:00.004-04:00

Recently, we attended a family picnic put on by Rob's dept. in the Army. They had really gone all out with a moon bounce, face painting, a live amphibian show, tons of food and a clown making balloon animals. Alton really took an interest in what the clown was doing and decided he wanted to make balloon animals. So I did what I always do when one of the kids shows an interest in something and requested several library books on the subject. Once armed with those, he used his money to buy some animal balloons at a party store. Since then, the sound of twisting and occasionally popping are a regular part of our home atmosphere. He's gotten good pretty quickly. He's had balloon sword fights with Avery and has begun filling Alayna's room with almost any balloon animal she could want. Make no mistake however, he has made it clear over and over that he does not want to be a clown! He is only interested in making things with balloons!

A Box of Crayons for the Baby

2008-08-23T10:57:00.004-04:00

While I was reading the newspaper this morning, Avery came over and began shoving a box of crayons up my shirt. I asked, "What are you doing?" He continued to stuff them up my shirt. Alayna came over and said, "Mom, he's trying to give them to the baby. I told him that Grandma had sent them for the baby." I had to laugh. Grandma from Texas had sent school supplies for each of the kids and didn't want to leave the baby out. Avery was seeing to it, that he got them delivered. When I explained that it wouldn't really work and the baby would have to come out first to get them, Alayna suggested that I swallow them.

TV/Computer Budget

2008-08-18T21:07:00.003-04:00

For those that don't know, Rob and I started out our married life with no TV at all! We actually used to do productive things with that time that we could've been sitting in front of it mindlessly. Time passed and when Alton was 18mos old, we began to realize there could be some benefit in just having a video for him to watch occasionally. We bought a small TV/VCR combo and because we were stationed at Ft. Leonard Wood Mo, there were no stations to be had without cable. The same went for our next duty station, Ft. Polk. However while there, Rob came home one day with a full sized TV and entertainment center. We still had no channels, just the opportunity to rent movies and watch them on a bigger screen.

This worked great for awhile. Time passed and our 8th year of marriage, we moved to Ft. Carson CO. Then came the big slide. I came home one day to see Rob hanging out on the couch watching the World Series. I asked how this was possible. With a half guilty, have joyous expression, he pointed out the rabbit-eared, high-tech antennae he had purchased for the big TV. I was annoyed by this. I didn't let the kids watch anything except for "Funniest Home Videos" on Sunday nights. The problem was, there was no one to monitor my own TV usage. I quickly became an HGTV and reality show junkie. Every evening of the week there was something to watch on TV. Now Rob was annoyed (he hates reality shows), but I simply pointed out that he was the one that got the antennae. Oh yes, and before we left Ft. Carson, we had Dish. We were now like any normal American family.

Since then, I've always been strict with the kids about what and how much they watch, making exceptions only if they were sick or I was super busy etc.. This summer, with unpacking boxes and trying to get settled, it was very easy for me to say "yes" anytime the kids wanted to turn on Boomerang (Alton's favorite channel with all cartoons that I grew up with). Now, that we're more settled and school has begun, I've implemented a new system that the kids really like.

I had some colored popsicle sticks and assigned each kid a color. Each stick represented 30 minutes of either TV or computer time whatever they chose (yes, there is much competition for the computer at our house these days). They each get 9 sticks for the week which comes out to 4 1/2 hours a week. There is the opportunity to earn bonus 30 min sticks for each book they read (but no more than two) for a total of 5 1/2 hours. Both Alton and Alayna are quick to earn their bonus sticks. Avery never even gets close to using all his sticks and since he cant read, well... The interesting thing so far, and this is our third week, is that no one has ever used all their sticks for the week yet. They are very conservative with them. It has definitely cut back on watching tv just from boredom. There are some exceptions. If Rob comes home and turns on the TV for 15 minutes before dinner is ready, then they aren't charged a stick. Alton has also figured out that I will allow him on the computer "stick free" if he is doing research about something on Wikipedia.org which he does often for all the comics and stories he writes. As for all the TV I was watching in Colorado? Well, there just doesn't seem to be time for any these days. Rob and I cancelled Netflix and only watch one or two shows that we record each week. The annoying thing is, it takes us forever to watch that. We just last night found out that Joshua won "So You Think You Can Dance." It took us that long to get to it!

Anyway, if your family is watching too much TV, try the stick budget and see what happens!

The Family Bookaholic

2008-08-12T08:59:00.004-04:00

Lately, Alayna holds that title. It started with the summer reading program. While the prizes offered were substandard to say the least, Alayna was driven by an unknown force to conquer the program and conquer it she did. She had read the required 25 books by the first part of July, but even having finished the reading program, she didn't stop there.

I can hardly keep her in library books. She loves to read and does so every spare chance she can get. Now if I can only get her to read something besides princess and fairy books. I have managed to branch her out to American Girl, Junie B. Jones, and some Magic Treehouse. Mostly, I am just glad she is reading. The picture above shows the books she finished this week. Actually, after the picture was taken she also finished "The Light Princess" by George McDonald which is a more challenging classic I "forced" her to read.

Chore Packs

2008-08-08T17:24:00.004-04:00

With a new school schedule comes new chore packs. Once again we use a resource from http://www.titus2.com/ called Manager's of Their Chores. We've used this system for about 3 years now and it's still working well for us. The kids actually wear their chore packs, so there's no forgetting to do them.

This is Avery's first time to get one. He was very proud and as soon as he was outfitted with his new chorepack, ran to his Daddy and said, "This my chorepack." Because he can't read yet, his all have pictures instead of words which you can conveniently set up and print out on the website after you enter your book code.

I love the fact that I don't have to ask, "Did you do this?" and "Did you finish that?" They turn their chorepacks in when they've finished and I know it's done. I do a room inspection to make sure that their definition of a clean room matches mine, but other than that, it is maintenance free.

Back To School!

2008-08-06T12:28:00.005-04:00

Today is the day and we have officially begun our next school year. We have to start early this year because we'll be taking off the month of Oct to adjust to the newest member of the family.

With every new year comes new challenges that have to have solutions. This year, keeping active Avery busy and occupied and caring for a new baby will add a new dimension to our school room. We're on the first day of our new schedule which I feel good about. Of course, it will all be blown away when the baby comes. I'll have to start a new one. We're continuing to use the "Manager's of Their Homes" strategy as it seems to work the best of any. If you homeschool and don't have that book, then go straight to http://www.titus2.com/ and get it.

Even if you don't homeschool, it is awesome. I am always 10X more efficient getting things done, there are less fights and fussiness, and our family runs very smooth when we implement it. Free falling this summer has shown me that while a break is nice, getting back on our schedule is where we want to be. You probably can't really read this. Sorry, I couldn't get it any bigger, but it might give you an idea of how it's done. The Dugger family with their 18 or however many kids they have now, have always used this.

The kids have been excited about starting all their new cirriculum and so it has made our day easier. I'm sure that will wear off in a few days, but we'll enjoy it while it lasts.

He said he needed more milk...

2008-07-29T07:20:00.002-04:00

It's the price I pay for zoning out for a few seconds while he was awake. Can you blame me? Once again, he had gotten up before his Daddy went to work at 6am. He wanted cereal like his Daddy for breakfast.

Rob left, and I devoted 30 seconds too long to staring off into space contemplating I don't know what. Something was soon pulling me out of my reverie; a strange sound like something being poured, then the words "Need more milk Mommy, Need more milk." As the sound I heard connected in my mind with his statement, I snapped out of it and looked over to see Avery indeed getting more milk. Never mind that the bowl had long ago been filled and that the excess was pouring all over his lap and onto the floor, he kept pouring until I jumped into action and grabbed the precious almond milk box ($2.19 for 32oz) and stopped the flood.

Hard lesson learned, if you are the mom of a particular Avery who is 2 1/2, never let your guard down!

Fun New Discovery

2008-07-27T19:26:00.003-04:00

Last night we went exploring to a state park that is less than two miles from our home. We had heard that it had a marina where they have concerts on Saturday nights through the summer, so we decided to check it out. It seemed strange to find this huge recreational lake area so close to our home that we didn't know about. There were deer grazing all along the road to the marina. They seemed completely unaffected by the cars driving slowly by. That was definitely the most deer I have seen in one place. There were as many baby deer as adult too.

While Rob and I enjoyed sitting out close to the water and watching the boats pull in and out of the lake, the kids were bored so we only hung out there about 30 minutes. Their attitudes prompted a lenthy lecture by me entitled, "Enjoying the simple things in life." I think it was lost on them.

From there, we got back in the van and drove further into the park to find playgrounds, picnic areas, and a whole lot of beach. Only wading was allowed, no swimming, but when you're a kid, that becomes somewhat of a gray standard. Especially when you "accidently" fall down while "wading".

I have some cute video clips of this, but am having technical difficulties for some reason getting them from my phone to my computer. Check back and hopefully it will be fixed.

Backyard Mysteries

2008-07-24T20:22:00.004-04:00

Okay, so here are a few backyard wonders and I'm hoping someone reading this can help.

First off, Rob and I were excited to find a healthy looking fruit tree at Home Depot Clearanced for $15. Since I plan to line the whole south fence line with fruit trees, I didn't care that the reason it was probably still in the store was because it had no label as to what kind of fruit it will produce. Take a look at the picture and if you can identify it, please let me know.

Secondly, I would like to know what the name of this "weed" is growing on the edge of our woods. It is making such pretty flowers. I'm tempted to dig it up and put it in my front flower beds.

And lastly, I'm not expecting an answer to this. While I love this house, it seems you can always find something you would change. There are three things that bug me at this house; the placement of the cable outlets, the two oddly placed hanging light fixtures in my eat-in kitchen, and the seemingly random and impractical positioning of our water spicket. Now I realize what probably happened is that this particular side of the house was supposed to be underground when designed, but couldn't they have moved it down a little? I have to stand on that little blue cooler to turn the water on and off. Being 7 months pregnant, I am not so graceful at it.

Oh well, if you can identify the two things growing in my backyard, please comment. I would love to know.

Close Call Kid

2008-07-20T16:06:00.002-04:00

Maybe it's something about Sundays, I don't know. It seems that Avery was at it once again today. Fortunately, Rob saw him just before he put the screw into the electrical outlet...

I've never used outlet covers with my kids, but perhaps it is time to start.

Memories Lost...Almost

2008-07-17T20:54:00.003-04:00

Fortunately for me, my thorough husband began sorting through a pile of things I was getting ready to throw away. Among other things was a CD with no label. I couldn't remember what was on it and since I've been in such a downsizing mood, I figured if I hadn't needed it in the last year, then I wouldn't notice it was gone. Rob put it in the computer and up came a huge assortment of pictures of Alayna when she was just about one year old. There were so many adorable ones, that I cringed to think I had almost trashed them. This one is one of my favorites.

The Definition of Ornery

2008-07-14T11:26:00.007-04:00

Uh, that would be the third "A" as in Avery. In recent days, he is really growing up and changing a lot, however he has developed some personality traits that are very high maintenance. Like any 2 1/2 year old he now has his own opinions about things. His favorite actor is "Map" (Alayna informed me of this) and his favorite song is the last stanza from "Farmer in the Dell" being "The cheese stands alone..."

He's very different from Alton and Alayna. Just in the last 24 hours he 1

1) Dove onto a pile of pillows and hour before church, but hit the windowsill instead. Notice the lovely goose egg between his eyebrows.

2) Attempted to roll down the stairs in the laundry bucket (the first landing stopped him thankfully).

3Drew all over the wall with a green marker in the homeschool room.

Sorry, I don't have pictures of the two times he spilled his drink and the bowl he dropped and broke all this morning. Nor evidence of his bad table manners yesterday at Panera Bread after church where he was shoving huge amounts of food in his mouth to entertain Alton and Alayna. The part where the sandwich meat was hanging down out of his mouth seemed to be grossing out the lady at the next table. A mother's discipline is somewhat usurped when the Daddy is also stifling laughter at his antics. He finally got taken out to the car where Rob made it clear to him that that behavior wasn't acceptable.

Whenever he does get spanked, and that is frequently these days, he goes to each of his siblings acting pathetic and saying, "Daddy hurt me." He waits for them to hug him and then on to the next person. We always counter with, "Oh, did you disobey Daddy?" To this he always says "disobeyyyyy" in a sad voice.

I've decided that putting him in preschool would be helpful in keeping him stimulated and bringing some peace to our homeschool room. I always do put my kids in preschool because I'm not good at doing all the little songs and games etc.. that preschoolers do. The difference here is that I usually wait until they're already 3 and then I put them in for two days and move it up to 3 days the next year. I may start him now and put him in for three days right away! That is my project for the week, get Ave enrolled in a preschool.

The End of "Black Market" Homeschooling

2008-07-10T15:18:00.002-04:00

We had a homeschool first this week: I actually had Alton take a standardized test yesterday! He took the CAT which is the simplest of the one's approved for assessment in our state. Believe me, I didn't do it because I was worried about his progress. In my mind, if he's keeping up with the grade level cirriculum I use, then he's doing fine. On some subjects, he's even ahead a year.

No, I had Alton tested, because it is required in this state every year. When we were in Colorado, you only had to test every 3rd year. We moved the 3rd year and I didn't test. I was a good girl however and reported to the school system that I was homeschooling. Moving to our current state, I did not report or do the necessary testing because I figured we'd only be in that state one year. Who knew that when we PCS'd we'd still be in this state! Now I'm in a little pickle as they are probably going to want to account for last year. Rob's tongue in cheek advice was to just not report while we're here at all and continue with my "Black Market Homeschooling."

So, I'm complying even though I think it's none of their business. Oh to homeschool in Texas. That lovely state where homeschoolers can do whatever they want and are accountable to no one. Anyway, Alton did great on the test. Now all I have to do is turn in the results, my intent to homeschool form, along with a copy of my diploma for graduating college (you have to have a college degree here to homeschool). Little do they know that despite my degree, I am still learning more about history and math than I ever remember doing when I was in school!

An Exciting Discovery!

2008-07-08T11:24:00.004-04:00

While they look like rasberries, they will soon darken into lovely blackberries.

Last night Alton noticed that we had a wild blackberry bush growing on the edge of our woods in the backyard. I was excited to see it and then as I began to recognize the bush, I realized that there are tons of them all along the fence line as well. That is so awesome because that is something I was going to spend money on and plant. I planted one bush in CO and after three seasons it had multiplied into 25 plants. That process is already well on it's way in my backyard now. There are at least 60 very large bushes running all over the place!

We were going to clear a lot of that stuff out, but now we'll have to be careful. I wonder if there's any wild strawberries or blueberries somewhere in there!

Avery's New Bed

2008-07-03T12:54:00.002-04:00

Never mind that he currently has Alayna's extra Butterfly and Flowers sheet set on the bottom bunk and no sheets on the top (I haven't found bunk bed bedding that I like yet), Avery loves his new bed. He sleeps on the bottom at night and the top for a nap. Don't ask me why that is his preference.

When we found out that our 4th "A" was going to be a boy, we went with bunk beds knowing that he and his little brother would probably be roommates for a long time.

Little Laundress

2008-07-01T14:07:00.003-04:00

The washer and dryer are here and how we are enjoying them. When you purchase them from a reputable store, they come with three men, carry them up your two flights of stairs, hook them up for you, and then explain to you how to use them!

Currently there is more laundry getting done at my house, than anywhere else in the state. There are three of us, that compete to do laundry at this point; yes three, the third being Alayna. It is not uncommon to walk past the laundry room and see this. She asked me how to operate the dryer and so I showed her.

It's funny because I wasn't sure what method we would use to replace our traditional laundry call that we have done now precisely at 4pm each day for three years. I bring the laundry from the basement to the family room. The kids sort the laundry by person on our sectional couch (each person had an assigned section of the sectional) and then are responsible for folding and putting away their own laundry and what we call "the community pile" which is towels etc... Obviously, it would not make sense to carry the laundry downstairs to the family room now only for all of us to bring it back up to our bedrooms and so I haven't quite figured out a plan.

In the meantime however, Alayna to the rescue. As soon as she hears the dryer chiming it's music she rushes up there and delivers everyone's clean clothes to their bedrooms. Her primary motivation is that she wants to put the wet clothes in the dryer so she can operate it. I realize this phase will probably not last forever, but it will buy me some time until I figure out where our new laundry call station will be.

Update

2008-06-26T20:14:00.002-04:00

Fortunately, today we did receive the money that Foto Connection said they were sending us, that is minus the $750 they charged for fees and of course, the verbal abuse we endured, which is why I don't regret filing complaints with The New York BBB, Consumer Affairs, the Federal Trade Commission, and the New York Attorney General, and LG Proper. I didn't know which one would take action, so I filed with them all just in case.

On to other subjects. Rob is enjoying his job even though the schedule is rigorous. We get up at 5am, I go for a 30 minute walk with the dog and he hops in the shower. By 5:45 I'm packing his lunch and fixing his breakfast. He leaves at 6:15 to get to the slug lot. He gets to work a little before 7:30am. What's bad is when Avery hears us and gets up that early with us which he did today. Rob is usually home by 6pm, we do baths about 7:30 and then try to have them in bed by 8:30. We go to bed at 10pm so there's not a whole lot of wiggle room during the week.

The only eventful thing here at the house, is that I whimsically began potty training Avery this afternoon. I like the potty training in a day method, but just don't think I have the patience right now. We focused on it for a good 3 1/2 hours. He finally started going in the potty after about 3 of those hours. Then we went outside and he peed all over the curb. Oh well, start over tomorrow.

Hard Lesson Learned - Stay far away from Foto Connection

2008-06-24T13:06:00.003-04:00

Because the theme of this move seems to be "the only thing you can expect is the unexpected", it is not utterly shocking to us that the events over the last few days regarding my dream washer and dryer that we purchased, have gone so utterly bad.

This is our first "real" washer and dryer purchase. We've either had them given to us, purchased used ones from family for next to nothing, or had them in our homes, such as we just did. For a year and a half now, I have been planning the purchase of the LG Steam Washer and Dryer in blue mind you.

A few weeks before we were to make our purchase, one of my friends announced proudly, that her LG Steam had arrived and that she loved it. In talking to her, we learned that they got it for about $300 less than we had seen anywhere else through Foto Connection. Their purchase experience was nothing out of the ordinary, other than having to get it into their home and hook it up themselves.

We decided great, we will order from them as well. No, I couldn't get it in blue as that would be $400 more, but hey, saving money was the key.

Annoyance #1 It would be 7 to 10 days for delivery. It did arrive, or rather something did, but it was not what we ordered. We received two pedestals that showed a price of $479 a piece which we never would've ordered knowing that the one's we wanted cost $199. Secondly, there was only one box and it was labeled washer. We asked the driver, where is the dryer? The invoice said we were receiving a washer and dryer, though the box just said washer and was obviously only the size of a washer. We didn't open it or accept the delivery, but immediately called the company. I could hear Rob explaining the apparent mistake. I couldn't tell what was being said, but Rob was apparently receiving an earful over the phone. When he finally got to speak I heard him saying things like this,

"Hey, calm down. I'm the customer here."

"Look this is not what we ordered."

"A 15% to 20% restocking fee for returning it?, but that's not what we ordered."

"Don't call me an idiot. Look ,what happened to the customer is always right?"

"Will you stop that so we can try to solve this?"

"Look, you're in business because of me."

My calm husband was clearly exasperated, but maintianing his cool. From my perch on the stairs, I said, "Tell him we'll call the BBB?" Apparently he heard me and said, "I don't care if you call the Attorney General (this later became an ironic response). Rob later told me that he said Rob should just get a truck and two guys and come pick up the order himself.

Having gotten no where with this "customer service person" we refused the product, and it went back on the truck. The guy promised to call us back so we could reorder what we wanted.

There was no call back of course and yesterday, Rob went back to work for the first time in a month. I'll write about that another day. It was one thing in our lives that went smoothly.

Believing that Rob had not been assertive enough, I was anxious to take over the process. Here's how two hours of my morning went yesterday. Call and get that guy's answering machine. It says press "0" to talk to someone immediately. He answers.

"Yes, my name is Traci and you were helping us resolve an issue with our order, I have my correct item numbers to give you."

"Hold on" Classsical music with "there are 9 calls ahead of you..." Finally, it rings. It's picked up and immediately, classical music again, "there are six calls ahead of you." Hmmm....I wait through it. The same thing happens again. I hang up and start over. This guy knows who I am and doesn't want to talk to me. I am persistant. After about the 6th call to his direct line, someone else answers. Same thing over and over again. Finally, he himself answers and before I can get two words out, I am blow away with a barrage of things said to me that no one has ever said to me before (at least not within earshot). To sum it up, I was told that both I and my husband were stupid idiots who don't know how to place an internet order. There were many other descriptive words used. My plan of action had already been set and so I began repeating calmly the same sentence each time he spoke. "I need to speak to the owner of the company."

"Why, because you're an idiot?"

"I need to speak to the owner of the company please."

"Why, so you can tell him how stupid you are and that you can't even place an order correctly? Do you realize you made me lose a $15,000 sale? You've called me ext. 16 times. You have to wait in line for your turn."

"I did. Someone kept starting me over in the phone que. Can I please speak with the owner?"

"I'll let you talk to the owner and you can tell him how you and your husband are such *ing idiots."

Sarcastically, "Yes, please give me the opportunity to tell him that."

"What!!!?"

"Can I speak to the owner please?"

I'll spare you the rest because this is getting long, but I have never encountered this sort of treatment in any purchasing situation. Rob and I shake our heads at the profanity and rude things said to us. It almost seems unreal.

Long story short, after another hour of haggling with more shady characters none of which were the owner, we will be getting our money back supposedly short of $750 which pays for restocking fees and $250 shipping both ways. Never mind, that the truck was headed back to the warehouse that night on it's own. As embarassing as it is to get taken like that (I later found all manner of complaints and a dismal BBB rating on the internet with just a few minutes research), I want to share this with as many people that will read it. Do not order anything from Foto Connection. It is a completely fraudulant company.

Our next move: We've begun filing our complaint with the New York Attorney General. Rob said that small claims court would be pointless as they are located in another state. Also, just getting the word out about Foto Connection in anyway possible.

Settling In

2008-06-20T09:33:00.007-04:00

House on the hill.

It seems things have slowed down just a bit. Rob's parents were here during Avery's hospital stay and were a huge help with Alton and Alayna while Rob and I were with Avery. Now this week, my Mom has been here, and we've actually been getting things done around the house. She tends to tackle the boxes and unpacked areas that Rob and I just stare at because we don't know what to do with it or it seems too daunting to tackle.

We've had a little time for fun too. Today we'll take a subway ride and do some shopping before putting Mom back on a plane to go home. Since she has a much better camera than I do, here's a few pictures. This is of our backyard. We thought our property line stopped at the trees, but then learned on the day of closing, that it actually goes way back into the woods; really cool for the kids. Rob will clean out a lot of the underbrush and they will have the woods they learned to love at our last place. I like trees, but far away from my house so no windows are blocked. This is the perfect set up.

So far, we basically have our culdesac to ourselves. There will be one more house built next door to us, and one on the corner. It's provided a great place for the kids to ride bikes, or hit tennis balls around.

Here you can see the front of the house which so turned me off at first. The inside makes up for it however, and hey, I kind of like watching the kids play from my perch at the top of the stairs.

The staircase...and three kids.

Too Much Action

2008-06-13T21:43:00.002-04:00

It seems before I could go for weeks with nothing interesting to write about at our last duty station. Life, while pleasant there, was also hum drum and boring.

If the last couple of weeks are any indication of what it will be like living at our new duty station, then I guess we'd better buckle our seatbelts. The problem is, if you have so much to write about, then well, there's usually not time.

Here's the outline version of our lives right now.

1) We are till moving in! This has been the most gradual moving experience I've ever gone through. My advice: if your going to move, move far away from where you were. Living just two hours away means your husband keeps going back to the old home to pack more and more things himself because after all, the military will pay us by the pound. This results in less getting done sooner at the new place. We actually still have to go back there to clean the inside and do the lawn!

2) Avery in the hospital. Wow, there is nothing that sucks the life out of me more than to have a sick child. Avery spiked a fever that I knew within 24 hours was out of my natural healing league. Took him to ER as we had no doctor yet. Within 60 secs he was diagnosed with an ear infection and pushed out with antibiotic #1, all the while my heart was telling me, this is no ear infection. Three days later, nothing is better and the fever which stays at 104 despite doing Tylenol and Motrin around the clock (a big no no in my book normally) is like a wild fire out of control. Back to ER. Immediately admitted, put on antibiotic #2, given chest x-rays, and blood work. When the doctor that diagnosed him with an ear infection came on shift and ordered a cat scan, I balked. I didn't trust this guy at all and a cat scan is x-ray X 10. I felt as though my poor boy's health was being permanently destroyed. Turns out shady doctor was right. Avery had an abscess in his throat; a serious thing with a 50% mortality rate. Antibiotic #3 is started and talks of surgery begin. The ENT is ready to do surgery, but Avery has to be transferred to a children's hospital that has an ICU. That hospital had their own ENT and so surgery talks were delayed. After a ride in an ambulance, we get set up in the new hospital. Thankfully, the ENT does not want to do surgery right away. He wants to see how Avery responds to the antibiotics. Antibiotic #4 is begun. There is a lot more I could relate, but suddenly, this is more than an outline. Sorry.

3) Rob leaves to take care of his Dad who is not expected to live much longer. There are many family dynamics that are stressing him.

4) The good news. We love our library! We absolutely love our brand new organic grocery store that is only 4 miles away, completely huge, and has lower prices than Whole Foods. It just opened Saturday and I know God had that store put there just for me. I am certain that I am the only military wife to get emotional as she walked into a grocery store that was perfectly suited to her. It must be the pregnancy hormones! We love our house. So much work to be done even though it's new, but I don't feel in a hurry. Fixing it up is the fun part of owning your own home.

Phew! I'm going to go watch some Tivo'd "So You Think You can Dance."

Longer than I Intended

2008-06-10T21:40:00.002-04:00

Okay, so my break was a little longer than planned, but there have been a few bumps in the road with this move. I'l write more later, but for now, just keep Avery's health in your prayers. We just returned from a 5 day stint at a children's hospital where he was admitted for a retro phylangel (sp?) abcess. He's still on the mend and I'm praying we don't have to go back.

More soon.

Traci

Out For Awhile

2008-05-29T15:59:00.003-04:00

Rob and my brother-in-law have been hard at it today packing our moving truck. I've packed a few more boxes, but we ran out, so what's a pregnant girl to do, but go out to lunch with two of her closest friends here! Ah, that was nice; especially the part where I got away from the chaos in our house.

We close on our new house tomorrow early afternoon and I know I won't sleep tonight. It's funny, because it doesn't matter if I like where I'm going or not, I get so excited to move! It's happened with every PCS. Apparently, I thrive on change which happens to be a great characteristic for a military spouse to possess.

That being said, because the majority of our furniture (and computer) don't get packed and delivered by the movers until next week (I'll be at our new place), you probably won't be hearing from me for awhile. That works out, because in the meantime I'll be unpacking all the boxes I just packed!

When I questioned Rob this morning if all this work doing a partial ditty ourselves was worth it, he promptly got on-line and ordered the new LG steam washer and dryer that I've wanted now for two years. He then said, "I think so." There was nothing I could say to that. We've never had a brand new washer and dryer which is probably one more reason I'm so looking forward to getting into our new house.

See ya soon!

Besides..Little Boys Love Their Mamas

2008-05-28T18:23:00.003-04:00

We all said it was a girl; except for Avery. He said, "Baby boy!" Turns out he was right. This morning's ultrasound left no doubt that we have a little boy on the way. I think we were secretly hoping for a girl, but I noticed we'd been referring to this baby as a "he" for several weeks now. It kind of works out anyway. Avery will have a roommate and buddy for years to come, I find boys easier to raise, and besides, little boys love their mamas!

Off to shop for a bunk bed!

Our Last Week Here

2008-05-25T20:22:00.005-04:00

Well, I can't say we've been bored. We're very excited to get into our new home, and so time seems to be passing slowly in that respect, but we've had so much going on and to get done, that we've been busier than we like.

Rob's graduation went off without a hitch. He practically ran across the stage. I don't have any pictures, because I spent the time in the overflow room with the kids watching it all on a big screen. I managed to keep wiggly Avery on my lap the whole time, though not with out a lot of effort and diversions. Judging from what I could here, there were several other Moms that were less prudent inside the auditorium. There was much screaming and crying through it.

Friday we drove to our new home and had our walk through. We discovered that our property line actually goes pretty far back into a wooded area. Funny, because we thought it ended where the trees began. Now we can have the best of both worlds; our house on a wide open space like I need, and a little forest for the kids to play in like they've grown to love here. This has pretty much put our plans for a fence on hold. The lot is almost a half acre. It didn't look so big, but now with that extra part, we're not sure what we'll do.

Saturday we spent the morning at a track meet for kids. Yes, we forced our children to do it, but they simply don't seem to run around a lot on their own. Alayna did a 6yr old race (1 lap around the track). Alton and Alayna did a siblings race together (1 lap each) and Alton and Rob did a Father Son race (1 lap each). They ended up enjoying it, although Alayna was discouraged that she didn't win a trophy. I told her the food was all that mattered, which is why I race. I also told them they were winners because nobody walked and nobody cried (our main hope). The announcer said that the government or someone like that suggests that 9 year olds should be able to run a mile! Yikes. I don't think Alton could make it around more than twice. We didn't enter him in that race. There were about 30 kids and all of them ran it in under 8 minutes! The winner ran it in 6:25! That is amazing!

What else have the kids been up to, well here's a little snippet.
Lately, they use the video camera more than I do!

Finally, Some Free Time!

2008-05-19T20:03:00.005-04:00

After all the accolades we'd heard about the course year being the best year in of a soldier's life because of all the family time, it finally rings true this week. Rob is done with classes and doesn't have graduation until Thursday. Three days of family time. Well, I won't complain, at least he's not deployed. Maybe that's how they meant it. Rob is so relieved to be done. It's crazy because with his occupation, he has to have 12 CLE credits each year. This semester alone he has 81.

Anyway, the kids wanted to celebrate by finally going to that Putt Putt course we've been driving past for a year. I was suprised to find that it was the exact same course as the one I played at as a kid in Oklahoma City on 39th St. I logged a lot of hours there. It's torn down now, so it felt kind of strange to be playing those very same holes, in the exact same set up that I had years ago.

The kids had a great time and actually did well. This was Avery's first time on the course instead of watching from his stroller. We had a few issues with him not waiting his turn, but it was cute to watch him hit it about two inches and then go put in the hole with his hands. On the last hole when the ball disappears, Avery was coming up with extra balls to put in there, until we realized he was opening the door to the bucket underneath to get more. He scream cried when it was time to leave. He was by far, the loudest customer at Putt-Putt.

Definitive Moments

2008-05-13T22:12:00.003-04:00

For those of you that are moms or dads, and your kids are old enough to ask you questions, you will understand this blog perfectly. At least I hope you do because otherwise, it means that Rob and I really stink when it comes to defining words. With two kids proficiently reading, we get asked to do this daily. What surprises me, is that I get absolutely flummoxed with the difficulty of defining words that I have known or been familiar with most of my life.

Yesterday in fact, was a big day for having to explain words. Alton and Alayna have both been carrying around big chapter books wherever they go and reading every spare minute, so of course, I was getting asked all manner of questions. There were several words that frustrated me. Part of this is because I have come to the realization that I am unable to explain a word using intelligent words like a dictionary, but have noticed myself resorting to bizarre hand motions and strange sound effects. Take the word maneuver for instance. Alton asked me what that meant. Before I tell you how I explained it, try to think what you would tell your kid and see if that word wasn't a challenge. I started with "You know..." and then found myself using my hands like a fish swimming through water while making some strange pshew sound. Alton's blank stare told me I had to do better. I finally came up with, "To work your way around or through something." Not bad, but I still had to move my neck like an Egyptian to get those words out. What about the word clunky? How in the world do you explain that while in the car without using your hands like horse hooves and uttering a strange gutteral sound with the letter "C" in it.

Funnier still, is when both Rob and I are involved together in defining a word. I have noticed that my soul mate has completely different ideas about what certain words mean. When Alton asked what a ravine was, I immediately used my hand to swoop downwards and said, "You know, like a little canyon." Rob chimed in at the same time and said, "A little stream." A small argument ensued between us after this one. We never did think to get out the dictionary and clarify it to poor Alton. I remember verbatim, some of the definitions my Mom gave to me growing up (can't think of any specific right now), but Alton's memories will be well...confused.

Later on in the day, Alayna asked me to define awkward. I was tired and just said, "clumsy." Of course then she asked what clumsy meant. I said, "You know, you trip over things and fall down and break things a lot." The end of this day ended with me overhearing Alayna ask Rob what the horizon was. A sleepy Rob mumbled, "the sky." Hmmm...ordinarily I would added my own idea to that one, but it had been a long day and I decided someday Alayna would find out what a horizon really was.

Blogging on a Friday Night

2008-05-09T21:08:00.004-04:00

Why you ask? Because Rob is out at a Dining In, which is actually a short name for many officers getting dressed up in their Blues, leaving their spouses behind, eating a large dinner, consuming copious amounts of alcohol and then doing ridiculous things such as body surfing across tables and who know what else and it is all a sanctioned and ceremonial event. Attendance is mandatory.

Was my husband looking forward to this event? No. He had to stress over his uniform for many hours until I pushed him out the door (his pins look straight don't they? He has to use a ruler and measure to the cm to make sure they're in the proper place). And frankly, he doesn't enjoy being around drunk people. Being loud and obnoxious and working a room, just aren't his thing. If we get to go to an event together, I work the room and that has always gone well. Tonight, he's on his own. I expect him home sometime after midnight where I'll get the full report.

In the meantime, I get some much appreciated alone time. I've endured a couple of ridiculous predicaments this week, one of which was today, when I totally bit it in a parking lot while holding Avery. The baby fared the best of the three of us. I stopped my fall with my one free hand and Avery. Poor guy got a nice bump on the concrete and I have some lovely skinned knees and hands like I haven't had since I was a kid, but the every enlarging belly didn't take a hit.

The other ridiculous thing that happened was at IHOP on "Kid's Eat Free" Night which is about the only way we can go out to eat. Anyway, for some insane reason, I've started drinking regular old coffee which I have never had the inclination to do. A Starbucks fluffed up something is usually my limit. I asked for decaf and they bring you the whole pitcher or whatever you call that thing, carafe, I don't know. Having gluttonous tendencies that night, I drank the whole thing. I am a trusting individual, and never did it occur to me that someone at IHOP could make a mistake and bring me regular caffienated coffee. At 4:30am that night when I was still bug eyed and wide awake having not slept a wink the entire night, it dawned on me, that I had had a little caffiene. Apparently, I had so much that after the 2 1/2 hours of sleep I did get that night, I was able to get up feeling fine and went the whole day without a nap until 11pm that night! Yikes! I can only hope baby is okay. He/she seemed to stay up the whole night with me kicking and wiggling. Maybe babies in utero just do that anyway.

You Want Me to Do What?

2008-05-06T13:17:00.003-04:00

That was my first response when Rob told me that we would be packing up ourselves for this next move. We leave in less than 30 days and I'm ready to go, but asking a military spouse to pack her own boxes when she's always had it done for her, is a bit of a stretch. I mean, the packers are one of the reasons you stay sane through these moves. It's bad enough to have UN-pack all your boxes every two years or so, much less pack them!

Once I calmed down, I realize that there will be some definite benefit to doing a lot of the packing ourselves. The military will pay us 95% what they would pay a moving company. They save five percent and we can't file a claim on anything we break. We make a lot of money in return for our efforts.

Right now it's not bothering me. I do about 3 or 4 boxes a day, which so far, are mostly books. That is one area I have trouble downsizing. Every move, I get grossed out about having stuff. It's great, because we are always getting rid of things and it seems to make life simpler. I also find myself not buying things because I think, "I don't want that to take up space in my house."

Having to pack things up myself, I'm sure I'll be even more careful about what gets put in those boxes and moved.

Quote of the Day

2008-05-05T10:08:00.001-04:00

Alayna: upon seeing that Avery had somehow gotten a hold of her prized Polly Pockets Convertible.

"Mom, please get that away from him. My nerves are not doing so well today."

Catepillar Infestation

2008-05-03T21:14:00.004-04:00

They're everywhere! We find them covering our front door, on our clothes, in our clothes, and even, ...in our bed! I really hope they're the kind that turn into butterflies so that there will be some reward for what I consider a trial.

Just yesterday we were at an Army picnic with the students from Rob's school. It was at a park and everyone was on blankets and camp chairs. There were trees around and so every few minutes a catepillar would drop down on someone. Being squeamish no matter how friendly the bug, I found this to be very frustrating. When I felt a hundred tiny legs crawling up my leg as I ate my lunch, I closed my eyes and begged Rob to remove it. Another husband sitting nearby looked at me like I was crazy and said, "That catepillar is not going to hurt you." However, having dreams about catepillars climbing on you, is mentally painful. Perhaps this was more a result of the dead catepillar we found in our sheets this morning.

By the end of the picnic, we were all calmly removing them from each other as though it was completely normal to have them crawling all over us.

The kids had the best time. Perhaps God made catepillars so enticing to children to help with population control. The whole picnic, about 30 kids never left the sand volleyball court because there were so many catepillars to play with. They built sand castles to house them and collected enough of them to fill a whole sand village. What the catepillars thought of all this, I am not sure. On the one hand, they didn't seem to mind being held and petted and talked to, but several of them met an untimely demise from all the handling. Avery in particular played in that sand for two hours before even thinking about finding us. When he did finally come over, he had a fist full of catepillars, mostly of the dead squished variety, clutched in his chubby hand.

They continue to provide entertainment at our home. Everytime the kids go outside, all three of them have a catepillar pet within five minutes of being out there. They never seem to tire of letting them crawl all over their hands and arms. I can hardly watch! Does anyone know how long catepillar season lasts? A few butterflys would be a really welcome change!

Unique Question of the Day

2008-05-03T15:01:00.001-04:00

This from Alton: "Mom, why do I think Chinese girls are so cute?"

Profile of Alton

2008-04-29T21:02:00.009-04:00

Alton loves astronomy. Here he is with his birthday telescope. We haven't gotten to look at stars yet because it's been raining so much!

Alton is 9 now. It seems hard to believe. He's a very creative kid who loves to create. His current (and long time) aspiration is to be a comic strip writer. He's had his own comic strip titled, "Dingo" for about two years now. He writes new ones faithfully.

He's not really into sports although he has been tolerating soccer this year. He loves to play defense. We think this is because it's a pretty laid back position judging from the good time he seems to be having with the other two defensive players when the ball is at the other end of the field. We're also "forcing" him to be in a track meet in a couple of weeks.

Alton has quite the sense of humor. Yes, some of his jokes and comic strips just aren't funny, but he seems to be getting more and more laughs out of us. This does not include the prank he pulled on me this week where he said he heard a rumor there was a roly-poly crawling on my neck and he needed to check. I was in the kitchen fixing breakfast and only half paying attention to his roly-poly "check" until I felt something actually crawling on my neck. Amazingly, the roly-poly survived my reaction.

His favorite school subject is drama. No, I am not his teacher for that. He gets that at homeschool co-op. We think he likes it because he can be just as silly as he wants. I was a service parent today and observed him in class. Had I been in range, I would've gotten onto him for being so silly, but his teacher seemed to think he was just as funny as he thought he was.

He has me wondering just who he's going to be when he grows up. He certainly won't be dull.

Big Problem, Simple Solution

2008-04-23T22:47:00.003-04:00

So my camera has been driving me crazy. It's been over exposing outdoor pictures for awhile. When it started overexposing indoor pictures, I started shopping. That proved frustrating, all those different choices, and so today in consternation, I grabbed the thing and looked to see if there was a reset button. I wasn't expecting much as I had played with all the exposure settings myself already. Low and behold, I hit reset and the camera is a good as new! All this to say, that there will be more pictures and blogs, more frequently, on the way.

Tonight however, I used the bulk of my freetime to turn out a long time in the works article on vaccinations for my natural blog. I would love any comments you have, even critical as that will help me to refine and better the post.

More soon!

So Pretty

2008-04-20T18:51:00.003-04:00

There is one thing I can say for sure about this State we are living in, it is absolutely gorgeous in the spring! There are literally flowering everything wherever you look. It makes me wish I was a photographer. Since I am far from that, I can only leave you with a few camera phone pics of our backyard which do not do the colors going on here justice.

Home Again

2008-04-13T20:32:00.003-04:00

After a total of 40 hours in our van during a span of nine days with three kids and a dog (who honestly all traveled well), I can certainly say, I don't feel like traveling anywhere anytime soon.

We had a wonderful time on our trip to Oklahoma and Texas to visit cousins, and aunts and grandmas and grandpas. We quickly realized that we need to carve out more time to stay when driving cross country. Four of our nine days were traveling and then after splitting 2 1/2 days between our families, time really flew.

We packed in a lot, from my Mom's retirement party to the Dallas Zoo we were constantly on the move. Towards the end of our drive we did a particularly long leg without stopping. Avery was over the whole being strapped down in his seat and started yelling "Get gas! Get gas!" Everytime he noticed we passed a gas station without stopping, he started scream crying. Now it feels good to be home!

Sorry no trip pictures today, the computer is refusing to recognize my memory card.

Compete in 10 mile race...Check!

2008-04-01T21:29:00.007-04:00

Okay, so I did it! I actually ran the whole 10 miles, minus walking for four seconds to actually drink some of the water in those cups that they hand you. I got really good at grabbing them from outstretched hands while running, but the drinking part, well, I almost choked twice and more traveled up my nose than down my throat, thus the walking part, I was thirsty!

I would love to brag and say "It was a pleasant run" which is what naughty Rob said having finished long before me even though he can't remember ever having run ten miles before. I kept expecting to see him lying in a stretcher somewhere along the trail, but no, he ran and ran well. He had a running partner from school show up at the last minute and the two of them seemed to have a lot of fun.

About 10 of my running buddies were in the race. Five of them, I didn't expect to see once the gun went off. The other six of us ran together for the first five miles which was fun. Then two pulled ahead. At mile 8 two pulled behind my running partner Deb and I. We stuck together through the whole race which we had planned to do.

I am very relieved to have it done, and will now quit running for the remainder of this pregnancy. That should give me enough time to forget that running 10 miles in a race atmosphere, was not exactly pleasureable. By then, I should only remember my sense of accomplishment and the fact that I'd really like to do it again and run under (well under) a 10 minute mile!

More on the weekend to come!

Bloggonit!

2008-03-27T21:20:00.002-04:00

Okay, so I'm not keeping up with my blogathon sister and sister-in-law. It's certainly not for lack of things to write about. The problem is, actually having time lately.

For example here is how today went and what we're expecting for the weekend.

Woke up late at 6:15. Worked on speed cleaning the house.
7:30am Rob calls me outside to show me the huge mess the neighborhood bear made of our trash for the second time this week.
8:15am My friend Anne calls and says that because of the Sniper on the Loose, school has been cancelled for the day. She had a flight out of town in the afternoon and her husband couldn't take off work. Sure, they can come over, but wait until after lunch.
9:15am off to Wal-Mart, Sam's, Whole Foods, and to get gas.
12:00pm home again and quickly put up groceries and fix lunch.
1:30pm Grandma Mary and Grandpa Bob arrive for the weekend.
2:00pm Katie and Ellie are on my doorstep, Anne is waving bye while backing out of my driveway to rush and catch her flight. I don't need to describe the mayhem of five children over the next 4 1/2 hours.
6:30 the girls' Dad arrives and I serve dinner to 10 people. Thankfully, Grandma Mary helped
whip something up to go with my tacos.
7:30pm Straighten the house and take a 15 min nap.
8:30pm Kids to bed and start on my to do list for tomorrow.

And the rest of our weekend?

Friday, take kids to Children's Musuem downtown with Grandma and Grandpa so I can count a day of school. At 4:30pm is Alton's 9th birthday party at our house.

Saturday, the Charlottesville 10-miler. My first 10 mile race which I've been training for for 5 months now. Did I mention I'm 3 months pregnant? That evening a birthday cookout for our neighbor's little girl is Avery's best friend.

Sunday, run up to D.C. to look for houses again. If we don't make a bid on one before April 1st. then banks are now requiring 15% down.

So hang in there with me and hopefully, you see blogs more often after this weekend...maybe even with pictures!

Easter Festivites

2008-03-22T20:26:00.003-04:00

Running a little late this year, I realized that we had not yet dyed Easter Eggs and as I knew I wouldn't want to see them sitting around for too long after Easter Day, I decided Thursday was the day to get it done.

This year, Avery would be joining in the fun. I didn't really think twice about this, having happy memories of Alton at age two amidst two parents, a grandma, and I think Aunt Amy and Gigi, happily teaching him the tradition and how he was the perfect little student. I don't specifically remember when Alayna joined in the fun, but I don't recall there being too much stress involved.

Perhaps this is why I spontaneously decided to fit it into our day at about 4pm before I fixed dinner and then headed to choir and praise team practice at 6pm. We had 18 eggs to color and decorate and between three children, I didn't think it would take long. Rob was home, but was out cold upstairs having taken a very draining test that morning at school. He didn't feel a need to be involved and I felt confident that I could handle things.

Avery was very eager about the whole thing and no sooner had we taught him to drop the eggs in, then things became chaotic. For one, if I haven't already mentioned this, there are two mothers of Avery in our home. The six year old mother was completely stressed out and frazzled that Avery was trying to touch the eggs. She was having difficulty maintaining the control that she so desired over the whole process. She was shouting commands or mostly reprimands and I calmly told her to just let him experience it. If he broke an egg or two, oh well. Things calmed down momentarily and so I broke out the video camera. I only got about 2 minutes total video and this only in about 30 second spurts, because the 6 yr old mother kept losing her temper. Each time I turned off the camer, I reminded her that he was two and did she really want to watch herself yelling at everyone while decorating Easter eggs when she got older.

Video back on and Alayna becomes frantic as Avery is putting more than one egg in the cup. "He's going to spill it! He's going to spill it!" "Alayna just let him....okay, we'll we were done with the blue coloring anyway." I get a few more seconds in before the green is spilled. The eggs are done in record time thanks to the multi tasking of the two year-old. Alton only dyed three I think. He was too concerned with peeling and eating the egg he "accidently" dropped.

And so with that done, the kids went on in pursuit of holding an egg hunt outside. I provided them with at least 50 plastic eggs we had on hand and sent them outside so I could accomplish the clean up and dinner before I left.

As I was heading out the door, I informed Rob that his presence was requested outside for the egg hunt. A look of panic crossed over his face especially when Alayna came and announced that Alton had hidden most of the eggs in our woods out back.

My conclusion is that Easter festivities are best performed among a multitude of other family members and not by two tired and stressed parents! Perhaps we will try to make it home for next Easter.

I'm Back!

2008-03-16T21:07:00.002-04:00

The last ten days things have been well, completely insane. I think it is my consequence for publishing a blog entry about hum drum days because they quickly dissapated right after that blog.

It all started with a weekend trip to our next location to look for a home. To say it was a frustrating experience just doesn't do it justice. Yes, house prices are going down and there are many foreclosures to choose from, but somehow it seems odd that for the amount of money we will be spending that our final choice for a home came down to two foreclosures, one we'll call the urine house because somebody must have shut up 20 dogs or cats in that house over a weekend to get back at the bank, and then number two house is the the foreclosure turned rental that doesn't need near the work, but we only spent about four minutes in because there were like 20 people living in it spread all over the house, in every room and some sleeping on the beds. There was also about a 400 lb occupant working on a souped up lime green car out in the front yard. We came out very traumatized and had marked it off our list. That was in the early idealistic stage of our search. We have bid on that one first and are now waiting to see if our offer is accepted. If not, we move on to the urine home.

That was the weekend. We came back to the busiest week we've had since living here. It's Rob's writing week and he has to finish his scholarly paper by tomorrow at 5pm It's going pretty well except for the 250 citations he is required to shorten. They had to be written the long way for his first draft and now he is required to shorten and abbreviate all of them. As I write this, he is currently alternating between lying in the fetal position on our bedroom floor moaning, "I loathe this paper" and doing push-ups to get his blood moving again.

I haven't been much help for him because I was gone every single night this week and will be tomorrow night as well. I've never done that not even in years. Our church Easter musical ran Fri, Sat, and today. Practices were Tues and Thurs. I would've dropped out, but I accepted a solo a long time ago and didn't want to flake. Wednesday night I had to go shopping with one of my military spouse running buddies because I agreed to host Bunko with her almost nine months ago. It is tomorrow night and will have a St. Patrick's Day theme. I have had all the green I can handle already.

Saturday morning I ran 10 1/2 miles with my running club. The race is in two weeks and so I can't really miss any opportunites to practice.

My kids have been watching a ton of videos and my house is trashed. This does not help my mental state. This blog is a splurge because I should be working on lesson plans for the kids' school this week. Maybe I'll pull an all-nighter with Rob...maybe not.

Prince Avery and some Hum Drum Days

2008-03-03T20:08:00.005-05:00

Here is Alayna giving Avery the royal treatment. A snack and a wagon ride. They play really well together when they aren't fighting....And that's about the only excitement we've got going on here lately.

Life on cruise control can be a good thing I know. But recently, I've felt like I am driving down the same road day in and day out. All our days are the same, with little break in our routine. It's making me really restless too. Lately, I am itching to get out of this house and go somewhere...anywhere! Today, Alayna read the story of Frog and Toad, and I was completely empathizing with Toad who kept eagerly looking around corners for spring. Spring never seemed to be around any corner that he looked.

I'm stuck in a strange kind of limbo life. Living somewhere for just one year can be a challenge. You can't really throw yourself into church, the community, etc...because well, you're leaving soon and it takes some doing once you've attached yourself to a place to then again unattach yourself. As a military wife, I've become an expert at this. One of the coping skills I've developed (as I think most army wives do), is to invest myself less in a location the shorter the time I'm there. For me however, being involved in things only half-heartedly leaves me wandering aimlessly. I still miss where we came from and am not particularly excited about where we're going and then here I am hanging somewhere in between these two lives in yet a different location!

Okay well, after that spontaneous pity party, I realize that Rob at least, had something very exciting happen to him today. He was sworn into the Supreme Court. This means he could technically practice in front of the Supreme Court. While that is not likely to happen, it's still cool! Basically, it's something else to hang on the wall in his office. Afterwards, there was a reception with a few of the Supreme Court Justices. Definitely a once in a lifetime experience. I may have pictures later. They wouldn't allow them in the Court room for security purposes, but there should be some other pictures from the event floating around soon.

A Mom Without a Comeback!

2008-02-25T15:54:00.002-05:00

It's a horrible feeling really. As a Mom, you're supposed to have an answer for everything (at least my Mom always did whether her answer was right or not). Full of wisdom, advice, and the last word, your children look up to you and think you're amazing. That is how I remember viewing my Mom in the early years and so perhaps that is why I am somewhat flummoxed when I don't have an answer or a timely quip to defend my position on something.

I've always been very skilled at arguing. Maybe I am out of practice because my husband just doesn't participate. At any rate, a week hardly goes by that my mind is not scrambling for the perfect response to something Alton or Alayna say. Usually it is with Alayna who is always keeping Rob and I on our toes. She can quote us verbatim on anything we've said and will always remind us if we have not made good on our word. We expect to be on the defensive with her.

With Alton, I'm caught off guard more easily. He's very obedient and sensitive, rarely talks back, and is just compliant. He is basically Rob. This morning's conversation once again caught me off guard and left me with absolutely no good response.

Me: "Alton, your room used to always be cleaner than Alayna's. Lately though, she's been keeping her room much cleaner than yours." (Okay, I realize this breaks the whole not pitting your kids against each other rule. Don't worry, Alton took me to task).

Alton: "I mean, who cares Mom? It's not like it's a contest."

I stood there for a minute outside the bathroom door where he was cleaning the sink. Nope, I really can't think of anything to say to that, and walked back down the stairs in deep thought.

This and That

2008-02-24T20:19:00.003-05:00

So Impressed!

While it might look like an ordinary dinner, it is special because it is the first meal in almost 13 years of marriage that Rob prepared all by himself!

I had to stay at church later than the rest of the fam to sing for second service, so I usually have something in the crockpot waiting when Rob and the kids get home. This week however, all my crockpot recipes sounded old and tired. This one took a little preparation and since Rob was home, well, I gave him the instructions and sent him on his way. Now he knows how to steam fresh green beans and throw some fish in the oven. Hmmm...maybe we can actually take turns cooking meals now!

Something We Love...

Netflix "watch instantly" on the computer

Perfect for spontaneous FREE movie events.

(Notice Avery's sense of humor is not quite up to par with Alton and Alayna).

Quote of the Day

2008-02-17T22:15:00.002-05:00

Mom to Alton - "Are you leaving that stuff on the floor for the maid to pick up?" (note, we do not "employ" a maid).

Alton looking directly at Mom - "I'm surprised the maid asked."

To My Favorite Valentine!

2008-02-13T19:22:00.007-05:00

Just a few of the reasons why I love you...

You're sooo adorable!

You're such a great Daddy!

You're so patient with me...

I'll love you forever!

9 Miles and Counting!

2008-02-09T12:25:00.000-05:00

I just finished running 9 miles for the first time in my life! My running club group has been inching up a 1/2 mile each week and then after New Year's we began adding 1 mile a week. I'll get up to 11 miles two weeks before the 10 mile race I've been training for for almost 6 months.

It's amazing to go from having only run 3 miles to 10 in such a short time. I'd love to say that I feel great after this morning's run, but actually I feel the worst I've felt. Normally, my muscles aren't sore. I end up having to take a nap later in the afternoon and my left knee has to be iced, but no muscle pain. Today, I don't know what was different, but my body aches from top to bottom. At mile 7 I began asking myself, "Why do I want to run 10 miles again?"

Fortunately, my running buddies always keep me going. Within my group, I have about 7 ladies that I run with. Two are military spouses and the others we've picked up along the way because they run at our pace. It's so cool. Sometimes there are two men that run with us too, but they must have been feeling pretty energetic today because we never caught up with them. It interesting too, how we often switch leaders. One of my friends compared it to a flock of birds because someone who's been in the front often moves to the back and someone else picks up the lead.

The whole thing is an extremely rewarding experience. Running with other people working towards the same goal, is a great feeling. If there's a running club in your area, join it!

A Beautiful Day

2008-02-06T11:49:00.000-05:00

Unseasonably warm weather brought our school room outdoors today. Avery was completely occupied and presented no challenges. Alton and Alayna however, were more than a little distracted by thier premature "spring fever."

Introspective Reflection by a Homeschooling Mom Who Never Sits

2008-01-31T15:29:00.000-05:00

Poor Little Guy
Here I am at 3:00 in the afternoon and through some not very thrilling, but out of the ordinary circumstances, I find myself with an hour and a half of unexpected free time. What will I do with it? Blog and then read a book of course!

Avery woke up this morning with a pretty high fever. We stayed home from the gym and he played enough that I was able to get some much needed cleaning done that I had planned for the morning. By 10am he was done; poor guy. I decided to put him down for a nap and you never saw a 2 yr old more willing to get in his bed. He pulled the covers on himself before I got to it. While I felt sorry for him, it made morning school quite simple. By noon, he was up again and more pitiful than ever. This posed an interesting delimna. We run a pretty tight ship during the day and I had so much time to get lunch done, kitchen cleaned, have storytime, and put Ave down for his normally only nap, only to have 30 minutes of free time and then start afternoon school. I popped in a video until I got the kids' lunch done and then set Avery in his chair. He didn't touch his food and just sat there staring. After a few minutes of sitting, he wanted out and thus began, "I just want you to hold me."

Before I started homeschooling, I remember many times when Alton or Alayna were sick, just being content holding them and rocking them for hours. Today I realized that Avery has never had that! For one, he doesn't get really sick very often which is a blessing, but if he does, he gets plopped on the couch with a video and some green juice or EmergenC and a blanket. I go on with my schedule and he has never complained about this.

Today was different. After battling with a guilty conscience over whether or not to cancel afternoon school and all the chores I try to squeeze in between subjects, I plopped myself down in the recliner with my little boy and the family's favorite, huge, fluffy Steelers blanket and settled in for the afternoon. Thirty minutes into this and I realized that I had lost some perspective on what it is to be a Mom. Alton and Alayna were immediately all over me full of giggles as they pretended to be sick and begged to sit on my lap. Avery was not willing to share and I jokingly told them that they had had their days when they were younger and it was Avery's turn. In my mind however, a sadness crept over me as I realized....

I NEVER SIT DOWN!

I don't mean sitting down in front of the computer, or in front of the TV. I mean sitting down in the main room of your house, just for a few minutes. My kids flocked to me as Mommy was suddenly open for attention. It was some what of a horrible revelation as I watched them. Soon Alton settled onto the couch nearby with a book while Alayna realized I hadn't eaten lunch and proceeded to fix me an awesome sandwhich and a salad! As she brought me my plate, she said, "This is so nice. Alton's reading, Avery's sitting on your lap...and it's just quiet."

I'm going to look back and realize how short my time was with them and I'm going to regret that I took all that time to clean the kitchen when I could've just sat down for awhile, stopped being busy and just relished being a Mom and enjoying my children; listening to them and holding them on my lap (yes even my 8yr old son), and just being. I can't help but relate it to the state of being verbs that I've been teaching Alton about, "Mommy is." Period. End of sentence, no other verbs at the end for 15 minutes a day from now on. And get this: I'm not even going to schedule a time for it! It's just going to happen.

I'll Buy It!

2008-01-27T19:36:00.000-05:00

"There's something you need to know before we start. There is no way you will be able to win this game. I am the best Monopoly player in this family and you don't have a chance so just enjoy playing and no crying when I win."

Alton and Alayna were staring at me with their mouths wide open, not believing what they had just heard me say. I didn't say it because I am a boastful, arrogant person, who derives great pleasure from "talking trash" to her children. My comment served a much greater purpose. It was part of a new strategy to get through playing a game with them without Alayna crying or Alton stomping off to his room everytime Rob and I win a game. You see Rob and I believe that when you play someone better than yourselves, you get better yourself and so basically, we don't just "let" them win any games we play.

The game that evening was Monopoly. Having many pleasant memories of logging endless hours playing this game with my siblings, and thinking it would be a great supplement to their Math work, I ushered them into the world of paying rents, managing money, and snatching up Boardwalk as quick as possible. I schooled them on many tricks early on in the game...buy everything you land on, acquire a monopoly as soon as possible, and be shrewd in your trades.

Thirty minutes into the game, I started to have an uncomfortable feeling and so I made an assessment of the situation and slowly began to realize that my children had learned well from me as they both had monopolies and I had none. When developing these properties, Alayna in particular, saw no need to have houses, but to just go ahead and buy hotels on Mediterranean and Baltic. Alton was enjoying buying houses piece by piece on his New York etc..monopoly. Having bought everything I landed on and still being unable to acquire one, and the children being less than reasonable with me when it came to selling me some of their properties, and my dollars dwindling, I found myself very close to eating some serious crow.

There was one concept they were not catching on to, and this has been an issue in real life when they spend their money. Alton kept paying me way over what the rent cost so that he could get change. Alayna commented several times when the bank gave her change, that she was "really making some money now." I kept trying to explain over and over that they were not making in money by me giving them change; that is was left over from what they paid me, but it just doesn't seem to be taking. Alton landed on one of my properties that was $20 rent and proceeded to try and pay me with a $50! This I didn't allow as I was running a little low on small bills and once again launched into my explanation about receiving change.

Fortunately, the other thing I told them at the beginning of the game, was that we would not finish that night. We set it up on the Dining Room table so it could sit out and we have played it about 3 nights with no end in sight (unless I land on New York my next turn), so I am it appears, just delaying the inevitable and I will very soon be losing one of the first games of Monopoly I have lost in a very, very, long time and that to one of my inexperienced children!

The Tooth is Out!

2008-01-22T21:25:00.000-05:00

It fell out of her mouth while she played on the computer today. She was so excited. She became a little annoyed later in the day when she began to sense that other people were not as thrilled over the event as she was. In particular was the dull look she got from her friend at co-op who had already started losing teeth at age five. Over the last few weeks we would try to get it out with floss, but her teeth are so small, we couldn't get the floss to stay on. The poor tooth had been through so much, I think it just threw itself out of her mouth in frustration.

She went to bed quite willingly tonight. She informed me late in the evening that sometimes the Tooth Fairy brings a prize along with the money. I told her I hadn't heard anything about that hoping to prepare her for the fact that the Tooth Fairy would not be delivering a prize unless the Tooth Fairy comes up with some inspiration for one that doesn't involve running to Wal-Mart.

Amusing Quotes and not so Amusing Arguements from the Day

2008-01-21T22:14:00.000-05:00

There have been many things over the last couple of days that my children have done that were not amusing. I don't know if I can blame it on the snow or what, but they have been at each others throats on more than one occasion lately. This coming from kids that usually get along really well, and so I have no patience for this "phase." With the fighting though, there has also been an unusual amount of funny conversations and comments. The first of which I'll share is Alayna after having gotten into it with Avery who is just learning to disagree with her.

Me: Alayna, remember he is just learning about sharing, you have to be patient.
Alayna: Mom, you don't understand. Avery has grown up into a big kid that cannot handle his problems.

When asked if she was able to handle her problems at age two she responded, "Yes! Yes I could!"

When we got home from the store the other day and the kids were putting away the groceries, Alton came across the organic cookies which I buy sometimes. Rob often helps himself to more than the allotted portion of these which leads to great protest from Alton and Alayna. They are not buying the excuse that worked for so many years, that "Daddy has a bigger body." Anyway while unpacking them Alton said to Alayna, "We've got to make sure Dad doesn't see these." I scolded and said, "Alton we need to share them with everyone." Alton replied, "Yeah, and you know how Dad shares...with himself." I had to laugh.

Lastly, the biggest fight of the day between Alton and Alayna was very dramatic with both of them crying and stomping around. This is not unusual behavior for Alayna, but when Alton does it, you know he has been offended. It seems that Alayna told Alton that he cares more about his comics than he does about her. Alton some how interpreted this to mean that Alayna thinks his comics are stupid. For those that aren't aware, Alton is determined to be a comic strip writer. He has been writing them from before he learned how to write words and could only print letters. He would just ask us how to spell things. Once, I asked him if he ever got tired of writing comics and he told me, "Mom, it's kind of like my kid job." So whatever it truly was that Alayna said to him today to shame him for not playing with her, it upset him.

As I tried to moderate their argument with both of them crying Alton said, "Alayna thinks my comics are stupid and she doesn't understand it's my job!" Alayna said, "Well, Alton never plays with me he's always doing comics." Granted, our schedules are a little tight with school and chores. There really isn't a whole lot of free time during the weekdays, so I honestly haven't found a good solution for them both to be happy. We used the rest of Science time praying together in the homeschool room that they would get along better and work on putting each other before themselves. As far as I know there weren't any more fights for the rest of the day. I'm not sure about the evening because despite Rob's paper deadline tomorrow at 5pm, I was able to sneak out to a night of much needed Bunko with my military spouse friends.

Avery's Birthday Party

2008-01-20T21:16:00.000-05:00

Last night we celebrated two new two year olds birthdays; Avery and his friend Kate. They are a day apart and so cute! Kate can already speak in full sentences and was very aware of the birthday festivities that were to take place. She knew it was her birthday, that she was getting cake, and that she would get to open presents. Avery on the other hand, didn't seem to care it was his birthday, but was pleasantly surprised to be presented with some new toys (almost all with wheels), and had he understood that I made that truck cake just for him, he probably wouldn't have shared. Ahhh the differences between boys and girls. If I had not experienced a two year old little girl in our own family, I might be worried. They just know more sooner.

By the way, Avery's favorite gift was a garage that our friends were getting ready to give to Goodwill, until he found it during his party.

Happy Birthday Avery!

2008-01-17T15:03:00.001-05:00

It's Avery's official 2 year old birthday today. We woke him up with "Happy Birthday" to which he responded with a big smile but probably didn't have a clue what it was about. His party isn't until Saturday so there hasn't been a lot of fanfare, but it did snow for the first time since we've been here; a big beautiful snow actually. They cancelled the schools after about an hour and a half which I thought was a little ridiculous all these kids walking in the snow and buses everywhere on our way home from the gym. I didn't realize it at the time, but once home, I was home for good for the day. I couldn't back my car out of my parking space in our long sloping driveway. Choir and Praise Team practice were cancelled and Rob's school closed, so we're all home now cosy together in our house! I'd like to have a birthday like that!

By the way, if you haven't been over to my all-natural blog in awhile, then you might want to check it. I've been posting short blogs with some raw and healthy recipe ideas for kids. I never have time to write everything I want to say about something, so to keep things moving, I'm opting for some shorter entries for awhile. http://www.allnaturalarmymom.blogspot.com/

A Two Year Old in the House

2008-01-16T16:52:00.000-05:00

It is the eve before the littlest member of the house turns 2. Does he suspect anything? I don't think so. He's heard the word birthday a lot around the house lately, but has no idea what that entails.

Saturday night we will celebrate with his little friend Kate who is turning two the day after him. I'm going to do the cake and somehow make it half princess half train/truck/heavy equipment or some such. I'll post a picture. It's been I'm not sure how long since I've decorated a cake, and in fact, Alayna is quite sore that she did not have any cake this year. It just kind of happened that way, so 2008 is the year Mommy makes a cake for your birthday!

This is writing week for Rob. His first submission of his 40 page paper is due on Monday. I've basically insisted he work on the thing at school. He gets too distracted at home so he's been up there for at least 8 hours a day. Last I heard he was on pg 18....I just can't worry about it. He'll write a bang up paper, but there will be an all-nighter involved next Sunday night.

A Random Picture From Today

2008-01-13T20:55:00.000-05:00

Avery has a favorite hat as seen here. It is an odd looking fleece thing that he insists on wearing, if he gets a hold of it.

Because Sometimes You have to do Things You don't want to Do

2008-01-09T13:14:00.000-05:00

Motivating three kids who'd rather be playing than doing school has made the title above an all too often spoken mantra, especially on Wednesdays. As much as we love Sundays, there's something about Wednesdays that fail to illicit feelings of excitement. Perhaps it's that middle of the week drudgery because there are still too many days ahead to get excited about the weekend and too many days behind it to still feel inspired about a new week. I actually don't mind Mondays. I'm usually ready to get back on "the schedule". Two days off on the weekend is about all I can handle before the kids start to drive my crazy.

During the week they're so busy that any freetime they have is spent in earnest play, whereas on weekends, too much free time for the kids means bickering, whining, and wandering around "lost". Mind you, that never happens to Alton who can come up with endless tasks to be accomplished, but the other two have definite lost moments and so come to their parents expecting to be entertained. For Avery that means playing car garage with him or reading the same library book over about 12 times. For Alayna that means playing doll house or princesses. These are things I don't mind doing...for about 15 minutes and then I'm back to marathon cleaning or whatever else I can't get done during the week.

This morning, I woke up with a particular bad case of the "I don't wanna's", but I got out of bed and got ready to go to the gym because sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do. Wednesdays are my second longest run day of the week too. I would not mind this, except that all my runs except Saturdays, have to be done on the treadmill at 8am. Otherwise, it just will not fit into the schedule and running on a treadmill for 4 miles is nothing short of b-o-r-i-n-g.

Coming home from the gym, my attitude was not any better about the prospects of starting morning school, but we did because sometimes you have to - well you know what I was going to say. Because of my attitude, I took a few short moments to dwell in self pity especially at the point where I was giving two different spelling tests simultaneously all the while holding a little boy wearing his coat and clutching several matchbox vehicles begging me to go get in the car (He loves to go. He doesn't even care where). Why am I homeschooling when I could be out shopping and having lunch with those other Army spouses who choose to put their kids in public schools? Homeschool Moms do have these moments especially on bizarre beautiful springlike days in the middle of January....hmmm 30 minutes before lunch and Alton still has Latin and handwriting to do. Hmmm...I think I'm a Charlotte Mason homeshcool Mom today instead of a Classical Homeschool Mom. "Okay Alton, scrap the Latin test for the day and get outside with Alayna and Avery." With Alton more than grateful to comply, he fled the house with his siblings. Sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do, but other times there is great delight in realizing that those things are not so important as what you feel like doing.

I began to fix lunch and watched them from the kitchen window. For several moments they were gathered around our biggest tree (and it is a big one). I tried to take a picture but with my camera batteries dead and my phone needing to be charged, it just didn't happen so I'll have to describe it. The three of them were gathered around the tree studying some ants busy at work. Apparently, there was much to be discussed on the subject. It was just too cute and I was glad that they were together and not all split up at school and that I was able to watch them while they played. Oh yeah, that's one of the reasons I homeschool and I'd rather have these moments than to be out shopping and lunching with friends.

After about 30 minutes I reluctantly interrupted their play with lunch on the deck. I can't believe the weather we're having. After that, they decided to use the bubbles that Santa got them, these cool ones that somehow form a thin layer of plastic that doesn't pop easily. Avery was an easy target and I saw him running up and down the deck with numerous little plastic bubbles resting in his curls. Maybe Santa didn't think that one through too well, after all, exactly what chemicals did they have to put in those bubbles to make them do that? Oh well, once won't hurt them.

We've had some quiet time now and Ave is down for his nap. Somehow starting Math just doesn't sound that great, but we will because sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do.

Ahhh...Sundays

2008-01-06T19:20:00.000-05:00

Sundays are our family's favorite day. Right this very minute the children are happily watching Funniest Home Videos which is tradition on Sunday nights at our house.

The day always starts out a little hectic. I have to be at church at 7:30am for Praise Team and Rob has to leave with all three kids ready for church at 8:30am It is always interesting to me that I can do everything but put on Avery's clothes and somehow Rob is still late... sometimes very late. This morning started with me giving a lecture on the ills of arriving late at church and how I get three kids ready to go everyday and still arrive on time at the gym each morning at 8am.

Today was especially nice because for the first time Rob was in the sanctuary seated right at 8:30am. I was impressed. Now that I know it's possible though, look out. After church we usually head home and lunch on something I throw in the crockpot. On really special Sundays however, we head to a local buffet, which we did today.

After that, it's home for naps. Everyone gets in their pajamas for the rest of the day (in the winter). Alton and Alayna have quiet time in their rooms while Rob, Avery, and I catch up on all the sleep we missed during the week. After naps it's family wrestling match on the bed. I usually do not participate in this activity as someone needs to be there to console whoever ends up getting hurt which is usually Alayna or Avery.

We soon move on to a light dinner of a yummy smoothie secretly packed with as many leaves of Kale as I can dare to cover up with vanilla and almond flavor.

Tonight we had a little extra time after dinner. The stereo in the living room got turned on and there was plenty of dancing. Avery in particular can really bust some moves. We do our family devotions early on Sundays because out here, TV shows come on really late. Soon after Funniest, it's off to bed for the kids. Rob and I spend the rest of the evening reading or getting ready for the next day. Probably boring to some, but treasured time to us!

Start off the New Year Running!

2008-01-01T13:55:00.000-05:00

The moment that 2008 began, there was not a whole lot going on at our house. The kids were fast asleep despite Alton's notion to try and ring in the New Year with us. Rob and I were watching a movie and didn't notice it had past until about 7 minutes after. That's how exciting we are.

Today however, we dropped our kids off at some friends and went on a date of sorts to run a New Years Day 5K. I had planned to meet a couple of my friends from the track club, there's Connie that fits my pace exactly, and Kate who I don't even plan to see once the race starts. She ran a 7 minute mile today and was the 5th woman in, not quite my league. Connie and I ended up doing a 10 minute mile which broke records for us. My shoe came untied at the first half mile, but I didn't dare stop. Rob and a school friend were somewhere behind Kate and ahead of us. It was a fun day and I have that much more experience before my 10 Miler in March. There are two more 5K's and an 8K before the big race, so Rob and I plan to hit those as well.

If anyone out there is saying, "I could never do that," just remember that I didn't run my first race until I was 32 and there are people a lot older than me that get started. My friend Connie was a lifetime smoker until she decided she wanted to be a runner. She decided to quit at age 42 and start her running hobby. She is doing great too. We keep each other encouraged.

Only 360 More Days Until Christmas!

2007-12-29T20:50:00.000-05:00

I know this because Grandpa Don kept a close count for us starting Christmas morning. We had a wonderful Christmas and it was so nice to enjoy it with my parents here and not just ourselves alone. I know some people really like that, but not me. All my Christmas memories are of lots of family around, otherwise it feels like something is missing.

Our morning started about 6:30am when Alton woke up. We were mean parents and made him stay in our bed until 7am. Then everyone else started to wake up so we headed downstairs. Alton and Alayna's reactions were textbook of course. Avery could only take in one gift at a time. The first thing he saw that Santa had left him was a garage all set up with cars ready to drive all over. He headed straight for that and stayed there playing until we finally tried to get him to notice his other gifts. That didn't really work even though almost every gift he got had four or more wheels or else was a book about four or more wheels. Pa Pa (my Mom) ended up opening most of his presents. Rob decided that half of them were to be rewrapped and regifted on his 2nd birthday which is January 17th.

When presents were done, we headed to the kitchen for a big breakfast (or at least it was to us), then about two hours later, we ate a big lunch. Yes, I did have meat at this meal, a large organic beautiful ham. I have really fallen off the wagon lately. We stayed around the house the rest of the day just relaxing and eating and eating.

The next day we headed out of town for a trip to D.C. We wanted to take in some of the sights and just get an overall feel for the place. Because we did not want to risk another $100 parking ticket (which by the way, I got out of), we opted to take the metro. Of everything we did that day, that would have by far been the most amusing experience to any spectator outside our family. We were stressed out just trying to purchase the little fare cards out of the vending machine thing. Then going up the escalator with 3 kids, a stroller and everyone holding their coats, well that was fun in itself. By far however, the biggest challenge of the day was getting on the metro itself. It got there pretty quick after we were standing there waiting for it. The doors open and people get on really fast. The kids hopped on first and I followed with Avery in the stroller. The metro is not particularly stroller friendly. We walked aways down the length of the car bumping people as we went trying to find seats. There was only one. Alton sat down, the doors closed and off the metro went. This left Alayna and I grabbing onto whatever we could. Everyone seemed to be looking at us. We were the only ones standing and so I felt as if I had messed up somewhere. I probably did look a little silly clutching the stroller and bracing myself with one foot about 12" behind the other. I looked behind me to see my Parents and Rob happily riding along about 3 yards away. I didn't know that the metro would stop every two minutes and that more and more people got on. I soon realized that standing was a normal thing and that grabbing on to bars and hanging over the people sitting down is also quite normal.

About halfway through the ride, Avery decided that he was done sitting in his stroller and began wriggling and fussing. He is by far the wiggliest child I've ever had. This called for a pass the kid to the other parent while riding the metro scenario which meant I had to actually talk; which by the way, no one really does on the metro except for the guy wearing the ski hat with the ponybob on the end who had been carrying on a conversation with himself the whole way. I raised my voice to get Rob's attention and everyone not wearing an iPod began to watch us attempt the pass. We accomplished this fairly smoothly. Avery was happy and our ride was soon over.

After making our way through a couple of Smithsonian buildings, it was time to go. This time, feeling that I was now metro savvy, and able to sit in a seat, I actually enjoyed the ride back. I felt pretty proud of myself until I watched the calm and collected woman who did not speak english, get on with her four children and very large stroller. She did not have three other adults to assist her like I did either. Oh well, someday that will be me after I get a few more rides under my belt.

The Tooth Drama Continues and other Amusing Ditties

2007-12-18T13:23:00.000-05:00

No, the tooth is not out yet, but I have to give Alayna credit for her cleverness. What she craves the most is the actual visit from the Tooth Fairy. Having watched plenty of videos with fairies and stories with fairies, to have an actual fairy visit her room will top a visit with a Disney Princess. The tooth isn't going anywhere for awhile, so Alayna crafted another way to lure the Tooth Fairy to her room. She created a fake tooth from paper and intends to place it under her pillow. The Tooth Fairy will visit tonight, but when she/he realizes there is a fake tooth under the pillow, he/she will reward Alayna with a fake dollar in the form of Monopoly money. The Tooth Fairy happens to be male in our household. He divulged his plan to me and seemed very pleased with himself as he ran off giggling like an ornery boy. I found it funny myself, but did my best to temper my reaction when he was around so as not to encourage his orneriness further. It would not be long before I was his next target with him being out of school for 19 days and finally having some free time on his hands.

There are more amusing stories to relate about Alayna. I realize that she is more often the topic of my blogs than the boys, but let's face it, she provides way more material than they do. I had an interesting conversation with her today. She asked why she only had two presents under the tree. I told her because I was not done wrapping and shopping yet. She then asked if she was only going to receive 6 presents and explained that this would not be a satisfactory Christmas if that were all she was to receive. I then reminded her of the children that we did shoeboxes for. We participate in that ministry every year and the kids really enjoy it. I asked Alayna why she should get more things than them as they might only be getting what was in the shoebox that we filled for them. She said,
"Oh don't worry. Santa will bring them lots of presents because they are poor."
"No, Santa will only bring them two. (This is the standard amount in our house not including stockings). How many presents do you need for this to be a good Christmas?"
"Oh, about 20, " was her reply.
"Really, 20? Why should you get more than the shoebox kids?"
"Well, they got about 20 presents."
"Would you be happy just to get pencils and notepads if you got 20 presents?"
"Yes," was her reponse.
Does this mean I will wrap up 20 pencils for her? No. She'll just have to be happy with what she gets and honestly, she will be having a decent Christmas, so she's just going to have to deal with it. I think most parents realize (especilaly the more kids you have) that indulging your children with everything they want, not only spoils them, but you have to find a place to put all that stuff and it really stresses me out. I am always frantically going through their rooms each year before Christmas to give as much stuff to Goodwill as possible to reduce clutter and just stuff.

The Loose Tooth

2007-12-13T13:20:00.001-05:00

Alayna has been waiting for this day for a long time, having watched her older brother start loosing his teeth shortly after age 5. She has been six for a month and only just now having her first loose one. Just two days ago I could barely wiggle it. When she showed it to me, I off-handedly told her to wiggle it whenever she thought about it and promptly forgot about it...or at least I tried to. You see I liken children having loose teeth to pottytraining. It is not a pleasant circumstance. That is because my only experience in dealing with these "teeth on the go" has been with Alton. To this day, Rob and I are completely traumatized by each little tooth that had to come out. Alton would never let us even look at them and the screaming fits and drama that followed when the tooth absolutely had to come out because big teeth were coming in behind them left Rob and I in need of a vacation. Of course his reactions probably stem from the fact that with his first loose tooth I ended up pinning him to the floor and yanking it out with some floss. I don't recommend that route.

Anyway, things are different with Alayna. She has but one thought on her mind today and that is to get that tooth out at all costs. She is driving us nuts. Rob and I are both squemish about pulling and she is begging us to do so. We are not cooperating (I don't think the tooth is quite loose enough) and so she is taking things in her own hands. I had told her the story about how my Granddad pulled my first tooth with the door slam method and how we never did find that tooth. She was at it bright and early this morning with her floss tied on the tooth and trying to slam the door to her room. She must herself be a little uneasy, because door slamming is one of her mastered skills, but the tooth has not come out.

Her brother is now involved and they have tried all manner of bizarre methods. The funniest one has been the alkaseltzer rocket. Alton learned how to make these in Science and admittedly, Mom and Dad have enjoyed setting them off as well. Alton's idea was to tie one end of the floss to the rocket and the other to the tooth and then launch. As far as I know, this wasn't a go. I've also seen them with a hula hoop going down the stairs and a Polly pocket car over the side of the bannister. At any rate, they are having fun. I'm sure the tooth can't wait to get out of there for all the abuse it is having to suffer.