Details, details!

See this lovely lady? She's my grandma. See her shirt? Yup, it says, "I make stuff up". There could not be words more true. She doesn't lie, nor deliberately mislead. She just, ahhhhh, adds details to stories. Or if you ask her a question and she doesn't actually know the answer, she'll give you her opinion. But she just might forget to tell you that it's her opinion instead of factual information. And the cutest part? She giggles like a school girl if you accuse her of adding to her stories.

I asked my blog pals to talk about inherited traits. My grandma's habit seems to be making it's way down the line. I've noticed my mom's stories are becoming a bit more detailed than they used to be. And me, well, I'm aware of the urge to elaborate. I'm hoping that's all it is at this point!

I bring this up in response to the many emails, comments, and messages I've received recently about George. First of all, thank you! We all appreciate your words of support and encouragement. Second of all, I don't know much more than what I wrote in the post on Oct. 3rd. It is so tempting to answer the many questions I've received with my thoughts and hopes, instead of the specifics of the doctor's words. George has gone through several more tests with the school district and we will have our evaluation meeting next week. It is my assumption that he will be put into a small special ed class for three year olds at that time. I say this based on the testing he did today and the fact that I was taken to view the class and meet the teacher. We won't actually know until next week, however.

So, in the interest of not adding details to this story-in-progress, I will stop here and add updates as they come in!

Vacation fun

Hi all! We're still here, I promise! We've had family visiting for the last week, so we've been very busy having fun! Having Gramma & Papa here for that long made it so Jason and I could go away for a whole weekend!! GASP!! We realized we have never done that! Not even before we were married with children. We've gone lots of places, but never done the whole tourist thing. So we headed up north for a marathon of Washington D.C. touring.

We walked the Capital Mall:








Spent hours in several Smithsonian museums:
















And, oh yeah, met an astronaut (Buzz Aldrin):








I will try to write more later today and catch up with my DSP blog pals, but I have a house to clean and frankly, I'm exhausted from my vacation! No one told me that I ought to train for six months to ready myself for two days of sightseeing!

Yummy, yummy!

Guess what! I spent $2,239.00 today!! Wahoo!!!!!!!!

You know what makes that great? I spent it on airplane tickets!! I'm headed home, baby! Oh yeah, my family is coming too, we'll be spending the holidays with family and enrolling Emma in Kindergarten in Oregon for the spring term. Jason will have to return here for a couple of months, but then he'll join us and in May will start a new job somewhere in Oregon or Washington.

I was higher than a kite earlier, once I had the tickets in hand. Then I started feeling depressed. It's hard to wait, I want to be there NOW! We want to go to the ocean, drive through a coffee kiosk, wear jeans and flannel shirts everyday, and so much more. It will be hard on Jason, leaving us there to finish up his job here and put the house on the market. But I know the time will fly!

The best part of going home? Well, other than being surrounded by family, of course. The food!! Let's see, what am I going to (politely) ask Mom to make? Apple pies (her specialty), enchiladas, canned spaghetti with fresh cabbage (Yuk, you say? Sorry, it's a family tradition from her childhood. Just the thought of it makes my mouth water!), homemade chicken soup, and Jello with fruit inside. Most everything else, I make myself, but those are a few that I always ask of her.

Hungry? Here's a recipe for some mashed potatoes I made last week. YUM!!

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes - serves 6

3 lb. red potatoes
1 whole head garlic
1 Tbs. chicken broth
1/2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 C. milk, warmed
1 Tbs. butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375 deg.
2. Place potatoes in large saucepan & cover w/ water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover & cook 25 minutes (or until tender). Drain & let cool. Remove & discard skins, if desired. Transfer to large bowl.
3. Cut 1/4" from top of garlic head to expose cloves. Place head, root end down, in a small baking dish. Add broth & drizzle w/ oil. Cover w/ foil & bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil & back 5 - 10 minutes, until cloves are very soft. Remove from oven. Using a wooden pick, remove cloves from their skins & add to the potatoes.
4. Add the milk, butter, salt & pepper. With an electric mixer on medium speed or w/ a potato masher, mash the mixture until smooth.

Serve immediately, or brown in oven for 5 minutes just before serving.

YUM!! Hungry now, must go forage for food!

Full Beauty

I just had to share this one. Something about this photo really struck me and I can't stop looking at it!

Quote to share

I asked my blog pals to share a favorite, or timely, quote today. This one seemed appropriate for me.

If my scrapbooking friends would like to use this, here's a link to the PNG file: http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/1300/someonetodayor7.png

The A Word

I mentioned in a previous post that George was going to be having some medical testing this week. We went up to the University hospital yesterday to meet with a specialist. It was a long afternoon, but George did great. The nurses and doctor were great with him, and most of the visit was spent just talking about his behavior, so George was able to just relax and play.

Final result, George is on the Autism spectrum. Not Aspergers, like we had thought might be a possibility, the fact that he still really doesn't talk disqualifies him. Asperger's kids are late talkers, but not to the extent he is. He has normal or even above age appropriate motor skills, but his verbal skill and direction following abilities are about the level of a 12 -18 month old. That large gap is what determines Autism. The third area they need to study is his social skills, but that can't be quantified until he's in a school setting, so we need to get him into Head Start as soon as possible.

With help in his verbal and social areas, he should be able to progress with his age group in school, which was our biggest worry. He's considered very low level, high functioning Autistic. Assuming he gets the help he needs, the doctor feels his Autism will be unrecognizable by the time he's done with schooling.

None of this was really surprising to us, but it's all a lot to process. We're all completely drained. But I'm SO glad we pushed to see the specialist, now we know to get him some help beyond just the speech therapy. George is such a happy kid and I'm grateful to know that we have a path to follow and resources to help us.

We love you, buddy!

Seven Years Ago....

Geeks R Us

In every neighborhood we've lived in, we've been known as "that family that walks". We try to go for a walk every night after dinner to walk off that extra piece of bread we didn't need, enjoy the evening air, and keep the kids moving until bath time. Our neighbors watch for us and wave, asking us how far we walk (usually a mile) and where we've been if we miss a day (or a week) or two.

Usually, George rides in the stroller and Emma runs ahead of us, looking for leaves and rocks and acorns and bugs and....well, you get the idea. But for the last couple of nights, we've had George walk. He makes it most of the way, spending the last block or so up on Daddy's shoulders. Having him walk has greatly lengthened our walking time, but it's good for him and since those walks are when we have most of our family conversations, we enjoy it.

Last night we became not only "that family that walks", but also "that geeky family that walks". We spent much of the walk doing math. I kid you not. Emma was showing us the five weeds and five leaves she had gathered, and commenting on how fun that was because she's five years old. So Jason asked her, "What's five plus five plus five?" She continued walking quietly and I bet Jason a million dollars that she would get it right. Guess who's now a million dollars richer?

She thought that was so much fun, that we continued doing simple addition and subtraction the whole way home. So, if you're out in your yard some night and you hear the sound of scuffing feet and shrieks of, "92 plus 8 is 100!", you'll know that geeky family that walks is nearby.

Release

I no longer walk Emma to her classroom. I pull into the drop off lane and she hops out of the van and walks into the building alone. Her wings are spreading wider each day.

George and I met with a team from the school district about running tests to see what, if anything, is going on with him besides a speech delay. (To Laura who asked a while ago, my son is three and has few recognizable words. He's been in speech therapy through the school district/Head Start program for about a year now.) The tests we talked about, combined with some medical testing scheduled for next week, are both liberating and completely frightening. But no matter what the results, I will have new information, resources, and techniques for helping my son. He breaks further out of his cocoon every day.

Jason will make what could be his last paratrooper jump in this coming month. His wings have tears and fractures. Time to fold them up and find a new journey.

I posted my final scrapbook page for the Digital Elite Team today. As wonderful as the last six months have been, from now on, I use the products I want to use and if the pages aren't perfect, it won't matter. I scrap for my family and me now. I feel liberated. My wings are open wide and I plan to enjoy the flight!

My Power Color

Your Power Color Is Teal

At Your Highest: You feel accomplished and optimistic about the future. At Your Lowest: You feel in a slump and lack creativity. In Love: You tend to be many people's ideal partner. How You're Attractive: You make people feel confident and accepted. Your Eternal Question: "What Impression Am I Giving?"

What's Your Power Color?

...and by "later", I meant "tomorrow"

I know you were just dying for me to come back and spill my secrets. But Jason came home from work early and offered to watch kids so I could take a nap. Um, gee, let me think about that.....OKAY! Then, of course, I paid the price by being completely groggy the rest of the day. But an hour and a half nap in the middle of the day??? Tops my list of guilty pleasures! I have a list a mile long of things I should have been doing, and my kitchen was a disaster area, but MAN it felt good!

Another guilty pleasure would have to be bad TV. Like America's Next Top Model bad. I have no idea when it airs but occasionally I'll stumble upon it and I just...can...not...look away!!! Part of the appeal is the standard reality show stupidity. And then there's the bonus of learning anatomy, since you can easily count each bone in each girls' body. Oh, and I love how they have episodes where they make the girls act or interview someone, in order to show that models really do have brains and can talk and walk at the same time. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! That was hard to type, I was laughing so hard!

So that's me, naps and bad TV.

I asked Jason what he considers his guilty pleasure. We agreed that it's Red Baron Pizza (frozen pizza in a box, for those of you lucky enough not to know). Bad pizza not a guilty pleasure you say? Well, it brings him pleasure and he doesn't inflict it on the rest of us (I usually make something else for everyone else), so no, that's not why we consider it a "guilty" pleasure. Let me share with you a story. Three years ago, after several long months, my wonderful husband was returning from Iraq. Knowing he'd been eating military food and sand for far too long, I offered to make him any homemade meal he wanted when he got home. Have you guessed the end of this little story? Yup, Red Baron Pizza and Budweiser. I can't say I was totally surprised, but a little offended that he chose it over my cooking. (And, yes, I AM a good cook!) The fact that I was seven months pregnant might have heightened my emotions. A little.

Bleh

It's 9 o'clock in the morning.
I'm bored out of my skull.
So is George.
Ever get the feeling it's going to be a long day?

***************

Today's prompt is "Guilty Pleasures".
What are yours?
I'll come back and embarrass myself later.

Nap Time?

George seems to be on a day on, day off schedule with his naps. Some days, he'll lie down willingly and sleep for as long as I'll let him. Other days, I go in to get him and find this:


Let me list the various items in his crib for you.

Acceptable Items:
pillow, two blankies, pacifier, comforter, one monkey, one frog, one hanging toy, one little boy sitting on the edge of his bed

Contraband Items:
Little Tykes workbench
burp rag (acceptable as I've been using it to wipe his runny nose)
package of diapers
Playskool Busy Poppin' Pals (behind him)
one dump truck
one fire truck
Alligator xylophone (under the dump truck)
Magnadoodle
hammer from workbench
two Wiggles slippers
cover from changing pad
toy phone (under monkey, behind fire truck)
one blue plate

Somehow I don't think he slept any. Guess who's going to bed early tonight?

Edit to add: Like I mentioned, he has a runny nose. He's not flashing a gang signal here.

Playing Catch Up

Whew! We're already in our third week of school!! I can't believe it! Emma loves every minute of it. Here's a glimpse into her first day:
She comes home each day with papers full of happy faces and fun stories (mostly focused on recess and lunch, but that's generally the way it goes, right?). I'm so glad her first school experience is proving to be a good one!

George has resumed his speech therapy as well. Today was his second session this year and the first ever with other kids. He did great! Last year, being around other kids was just too much for him, but after our busy summer of swim lessons and play dates, he's very interested in kids around him. His therapist told me afterwords that he "spoke" more today than she's ever heard from him. The whole time, I was outside waiting for screams. Not from him, but from the other little boys. I was sure that someone would knock down a block tower or something and he would chuck a block at their head! Apparently there was lots of knocking down blocks, but no tantrums, just laughter! YAY!! I can't wait to see how being around other little boys on a regular basis helps him with both vocalization and socialization.

Jason goes in for surgery consultation tomorrow. Once we have that scheduled, we'll be able to plan our move. We're hoping that we'll be able to ship me and the kids off during the Christmas school break, to make it easier on Emma, and then Jason will follow at the beginning of March. But, if he can't get in to surgery soon, those plans will change. (The surgery is on his feet, so I thought it would be the right thing to do to stick around for a while after to help him out. I'm pretty nice like that!)

I'm up to my eyeballs with scrapbooking, but nothing new there! I agreed to judge a contest and critique all of the entered layouts. Well, we're up to 50 layouts, and I expect about 10 more before the contest closes tonight. The other judges and I are critiquing the layouts in 6 categories, so 360 insightful comments to make in the next week! ACK!

So, that's life in a nutshell these days! (Or maybe I should say "in a nut house"!) I'm trying to get back into a routine that doesn't involve too much video time for George and still allows plenty of computer time for me. The blog prompts continue, so if you need one, check out the link to the right! Fall is in the air and that's awfully hard to resist, so I'll probably have lots of new pictures to play with soon. Stay tuned!

Me & My Brudder...AHHHHHHHH!!

We're pretty cute, huh?

September 11th

I've asked my blog pals today to use Alan Jackson's Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)? song to help them share their stories. Here's mine.

Dear Emma,
I was a fool not to write these reflections down five years ago, because I can no longer remember the details. But I want to share with you where we were on September 11, 2001, and how our lives changed.

You were six months and two days old. We had been living in Amity, OR for a little over a month. Daddy had left the Army at the end of July. He didn't want to, not in his heart, but it was either that, or he would have had to spend your first year away from us, in Korea. You were more important. We moved to Amity when he got a job at a prison near there. He hated it. He had to work the graveyard shift, the pay was much lower than we expected, and the job was boring. But we loved the tiny town we lived in, loved walking in the evenings with you, picking blackberries for dessert, loved becoming a family.

Daddy worked the night of the 10th. I can't remember now if he called me when the attacks happened or if I found out when I got up with you that morning and turned on the TV. But I do remember sitting on our couch crying, watching TV all morning, while you rolled around on the floor in front of me, smiling and playing. When Daddy got home from work, he told me he was heading back out to go to the local recruiters to see about getting back into the Army. I was not in the least surprised. From the moment I realized what was happening that morning, I knew he would have to go back in. That's just who he was, and is, and one of the many reasons I love him.

I know we talked to many family members that day, but I can't remember a word. I remember being really angry at Gramma. Seems strange to remember that. You see, Emma, she and Papa Jack were on a road trip in California. I couldn't reach them all day and it was driving me crazy. Then, when I did talk to them, their reactions to the events were so unemotional. I remember saying to her repeatedly that America had been attacked and we would be going to war, her son-in-law would be going to war. But she didn't get it. I didn't realize at the time, that when I talked to her, they hadn't yet seen any TV footage or really known any details, so it wasn't real for them yet. So, you and I waited for Daddy to come home and you generously shared your baby cereal (mush) with me for lunch.

Within days, we knew we'd be returning to military life and moving from our tiny house in the tiny town in the country. You and I went to live with Gramma & Papa until just before Christmas, when we could join Daddy at our new post, Fort Campbell, KY.

Daddy didn't end up leaving for Iraq for another year. We found out December 27, 2002 while we were back in Oregon visiting family. We returned to Ft. Campbell on New Year's Day and he was gone within a couple of weeks.

September 11th was a frightening day for everyone, everywhere. But it played it's part in shaping our family. I am so thankful that I had your happy, silly self with me that day, to remind me that the world wasn't falling apart.

Love you,
Mommy

How I'm Feeling, In 100 Words

I am loving the grey weather. I wish it meant that autumn had started.
I’m enjoying being lazy one last day, before the school year begins! I am excited about Emma’s first day of school tomorrow, but maybe a little nervous, too.
I was saddened this morning to learn of Steve Irwin’s death. I always thought maybe we’d get to see him at his zoo someday.
I’m feeling distracted by all the lists in my head of projects to accomplish this fall, time to break out my planner!
I have a lot of sewing to do…. feeling sluggish about that!

Meaningful Challenge

Just what I need, another challenge on another site! But the artwork was so darn pretty, I had to play along. Enjoy!

Journaling: I used to walk this shore line for hours. Now, I bring my children. I miss the quiet, but I love the joy. They make my special place even more so!

Credits: Everything from Jen Wilson's Meaning kit Fonts: Pea Girly Girl Script, 1942 report

...in which I grovel for forgiveness...

I'm sorry. I've been such a bad blogger! The final push toward the school year is wearing us all out! No swim lessons last week or this, so bored kids. Jason worked two non-consecutive 24 hour shifts, so no Daddy for four days. He brought home a cold that has been working it's way through all of us (I think we're almost done with it). And mostly, I'm just tired and not feeling very creative!

What does this week bring? Kindergarten orientation, Jason meets with a surgeon about possible surgery on his feet/ankles (fun!), the zoo (if it doesn't storm all week the way it is right now), grocery shopping so we have food for the long weekend and stuff for Emma's LUNCH BOX (waaaaaahhhhhh), maybe a trip to the library, and all the usual chores. Oh, and gearing up my heart and Emma's nerves for next week. WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

I have been adding new blog prompts daily, so follow the link to the right if you would like to participate!

Fashion be darned!

Applause please...

I mopped yesterday. Those that know me well, know that is indeed blog-worthy. I also cleaned the baseboards in my bathrooms. Excuse me while I throw up a dust bunny! And it was a startling day in the cleaning world. My mom was wrong.

GASP!!!!!!

I know, that's practically impossible and there's a high chance of me being proven wrong here directly or the planets colliding or something, I'm sure. But I grew up in a house where ammonia was used for all cleaning, especially mopping. When I went to the store yesterday, I couldn't find any ammonia. (Is that some new threat or drug ingredient I don't know about and they keep it locked away until you ask for it?) So I purchased a Mr. Clean general use cleaning solution. And it worked better than ammonia. Shhhhhh, don't tell Mom! Plus, there was the added benefit of not passing out from the fumes! Bonus!

So there's my wisdom for the day. Mr. Clean is my hero. Rubber gloves make all disgusting jobs doable. And cleaning is a good way to keep kids busy, especially when you empty out the eat-in kitchen so they can skate in their socks and enjoy the echo when they shout.

****************************

The weekend prompt from ArtCMom is to talk about our favorite childhood outfit. I can't think of a single one. Except possibly my Yodo gatchet. "Huh?" you say? Yodo gatchet is what I called my yellow rain jacket. There are many pictures of me wearing it and little else, other than a matching rain hat, standing in our yard with the water hose spraying up into the air.
I was playing fireman, duh!

To be published.....

Here are the three items (so far) that are due to be published in 2007:

Art Journal pages with accompanying instructions article:






And this is the layout accepted into a future Digital Scrapbooking ideas book:

Week of Lists: Day Five

Enough with the lists already! Last one, I promise!

I want to find more things to do with George during the school year.
I need to get away from this computer more often and out of the house!

I want Emma and George to be better about cleaning up their toys.
I need at least 50 kisses a day from each of them, and that uses up their cleaning time!

I want Jason to be home more.
I need him to go to work and make money so I can play with the kids and get lots of kisses!

I want to be a better housekeeper.
I need to get away from the computer more often and just do my chores! (Hmmmm, I'm sensing a disturbing trend...)

I want ice cream.
I need ice cream with chocolate sauce and bananas.

Off to the freezer! See you all later!

Week of Lists: Day Four

The last 10 things I did before bed last night?

1. Talked to mom on phone about book publication, did a little quiet screaming.
2. Did a last email/forums check.
3. Forced dog outside for potty break.
4. Locked all doors and turned off lights.
5. Laughed at fish trying to reach a fish flake that had stuck to tank above water line.
6. Let dog in and made her bed. (i.e. covered the couch with a blanket to reduce the mass of hair on said couch.)
7. Brushed teeth and other bathroom duties.
8. Read article in Popular Mechanics by Sen. John McCain refuting 9/11 conspiracy theories while involved in bathroom duties.
9. Changed into pjs.
10. Oh so gently nudged sleeping and snoring husband over a few inches so I could actually get into bed.

WofL: Day Three and WOW, WHAT A WEEK!!!!

Today's prompt was to share our grocery lists. It's amazing what you can learn about a person when you see what they're shopping for!

Mine is fairly boring this week because I mostly needed to restock on boxed/canned items.

Red Baron Pizza for Jason
Life cereal for Emma
Instant oatmeal (Low Sugar Apples & Cinnamon flavor) for George
Ritz crackers for me
Lettuce, cucumber, carrots so we can have salad with the 30 thousand tomatoes coming out of our garden
Popsicles
French Vanilla Creamer for my coffee
Chips
Canned peaches
Bananas

Nothing unusual, very little fresh because our freezer is stocked with meats and I don't cook as much during the summer anyway.

********************************************
NOW, for my most excellent week info!

Two of my art journal pages are being published along with short How To articles written by yours truly!!!

AND, I just found out that one of my scrapbook pages is going to be in a BOOK!!!! YAHOO!!! I'm dancing on the ceiling here, I'm so excited!!

It's only Wednesday, I wonder what the rest of the week will bring? :)

Week of Lists: Day Two

Attainable goals, huh? Okay, I'll play your little game! (Actually, it's my little game, I'm the one making up these crazy blog prompts so I guess I have no one else to blame.) Someone else commented that it's much harder to do attainable goals, and I have to agree!

1. I will mop the kitchen floor before the end of the week.
2. George will actually sleep during most nap times.
3. I will do our Christmas shopping before November. (We're probably starting our move in December, I need to have everything shipped before then!)
4. Emma will learn to get up and get moving on school mornings. (She is NOT a morning person!)
5. We will sell our house and make enough profit to afford to buy again in the expensive Pacific Northwest.
6. Jason will find an attainable goal.
7. Gracie will survive moving houses yet again without shedding all of her fur.
8. I will be better about updating this blog on a regular basis!
9. I will think of, and write, another class to teach.
10. We will explore the Washington D.C. area while we are still within driving distance!!!

Week of Lists: Day One

I love that there is an amazing device that allows me to connect instantaneously with friends and family world-wide, keeping everyone up to date with our crazy life! (Even when I put it off updating until I have people complaining and threatening my life.)

I love it when we get out of the house and do something new, especially if it's outdoors. (Especially if there are no bugs there!)

I love watching my kids laugh and play and experience the world. (Even better when they're doing all those things together!)

I love when my husband lets me sleep in on a weekend morning and takes care of the kids for me. (I usually wake up close to normal time, but oh, it is so nice to grab a book and be lazy for an hour or so!)

I love that we will be living somewhere in the Pacific Northwest within the year!!! (I don't care where at this point, just get me to the right time zone!)

I love that I've found a creative outlet for my brain and a way to use the millions of photos I take every year. (Okay, maybe not millions, but thousands, definitely thousands!)

I love that I'm getting published again! (OOPS!! Did I let that slip??? Details to follow soon, I promise!)

I love to read. (Although I did read some pretty awful drivel this last week. One bound set of five novels by an author who felt the need to have her lead female in every story talk.....like this....all the.....time.....because she was......so.....overcome......with emotion! Bleh!)

I love waking my kids up. (Well no. I love when they are sleeping, but when I have to wake them up I do love it. They are so soft and warm and cuddly!)

I love having a family that makes me laugh every single day. (This is Jason's specialty, it never fails. Love that!)

Trippy, Dude!

Whoaaaaaaaa! You've got to love the ups and downs of medicine sometimes! Benadryl at night to remove the itch and help me sleep. Ibprofin and coffee in the mornings because the Benadryl wears off after a few hours and I'm up half the night trying not to scratch my skin off!

Actually, today is better. Yesterday was awful and I was on fire most of the night, but today only key areas itch significantly. Thank goodness! I may actually be able to wear normal clothes tomorrow instead of the very loose, very minimal clothing I've been sporting the last couple of days.

And guess what! Jason had to go "shoot trees" today (Emma's way of understanding weapon practice). And guess what he found on him when he got home! CHIGGERS!!!!!!!! Wheeeeee! It just keeps getting better and better around here! Luckily we're all stocked up on Benadryl and hydrocortisone.

So basically, don't come visit right now. Our household is cursed. And bugged.

Chigger Fun in the Sun!

Quick Weekend Recap

I was going to write a long entry today, using a couple of blog prompts that I've missed over the last week. But, because I discovered THESE on my body today....I'm not. This will be quick. They are not disease-ridden, contagious, or (thankfully) on my body any longer. But I itch. Everywhere.

We had a full weekend and it went by oh-so-quickly!! Friday afternoon we had a 5 minute rainstorm that amazingly was enough to kill the humidity! It was still hot, and still is, but the humidity was down to 40% or so from the 95% we had been living in.

Saturday the kids were up early, but could, and did, play outdoors! YAY! Then we had our Food Bank deliveries to make and then raced home to eat lunch and send Emma and Jason off to DEONDRE's birthday party at the bowling alley. They didn't get home until dinner time, so we had a snack and raced off again to the Saturday Night Classic Car Cruise In. So much fun! Due to the break in the weather, that place was packed! Lots of cars we haven't seen previously, and lots of great photo ops!

Sunday we managed to sleep in a bit (tired from all that racing!), and then grabbed Gracie and went to our favorite park and hiking trails. (Have you guessed where I got those lovely chiggers?) Sunday afternoon, Emma and I headed off to Target, where we quickly spent $50 on school supplies. Yikes! But the best result of that is that Emma is now excited about Kindergarten again! Nothing like a little retail therapy to get a girl going! We BBQed Sunday evening and sent the kids to bed a tad early, so we could collapse on the couch. WHEW!!!

Today, Emma started her last session of swim lessons for the summer. I was happy to see that she was put with one of my favorite teachers, and by the end of the lesson she was doing things she hadn't done all summer!

Two weeks left of lessons, then two weeks off, then SCHOOL!!! Can I get a "YIPEE"? This mommy is ready for school to start!

Well, I'm off to slather myself in more hydrocortisone cream. Have a great evening!

Saturday Night Cruise In

Indulgences

As a family, we live pretty well. We have a strict budget that we live within, but because we do live within it, we are able to do or buy extras when we need them. We get fast food occasionally, but not every week. We only go to movies about twice a year (when we have visiting grandparents here to babysit!). We don't have a babysitter except for emergencies, so we aren't tempted to go out more. We value doing over having.

But we do indulge when the time is right. I buy the foods we like and the brands we like (no scrimping on cheese, it's Kraft or Tillamook only). We got a new computer and Jason got me a new camera when it appeared that this new hobby of mine was here to stay. When Jason gets restless for something to do, we go to Lowe's and get supplies for a project to keep him occupied. The kids have the clothes they need, plus a few extra pairs of shoes.

Now, when is an indulgence merely greed taking over? That is my dilemma today. I received an email from Adobe offering PhotoShop Elements users a half price deal on PhotoShop Creative Suite 2. (Cue opera music, Aaaaaa - aaaaaaaa!!!!) But $300? A great deal on a normally $600 - 700 product, but still a lot of money. But I want it!!!! But we're moving this year and need to save money. But I want it!!!!

Sigh. Unfortunately, I'm the responsible budget-creator and keeper of this family. So, most likely, I won't get it. But I want it!!!!

My Worry-Wort

I'm Tryinggggggggggggg....bleh

Okay, so I haven't been blogging much lately. Even Jason is complaining. How can he keep up with his family's gossip, if I don't post it on the Internet for the world to see?

But, you see, it's hot. Really hot. And I am so drained. Not a witty bone in my body.

Tomorrow, I will receive my Club Digital (several scrapbooking kits) plus my DET list of kits to use for the month. And I won't know what to do with any of them. And my next session of DSU 198 starts tomorrow. Thank goodness that class is already written and I can wait until chat day to be inspiring. And I'll need a blog prompt for tomorrow morning. Got one?

Yeah, I'm thinking we need to move to Alaska. I'm melting here, and my brain is fried.

Thank you for stopping by to view my ramble. Send me a good thunderstorm to break the humidity and I might just have something interesting to say!

What a meme!!!

1. Have you ever been searched by the cops? Um, no. My car has been searched by MPs though. No worries, it's common practice on Army posts to do random searches. They didn't find anything more incriminating than a dirty diaper and migraine medicine.

2. Do you close your eyes on a roller coaster? Heck no!!! But I do hold my breath on steep slopes, it keeps my stomach from zooming up through my mouth.

3. When's the last time you've been sledding? Sorry to say, never.

4. Would you rather sleep with someone else, or alone? Welllll, I'll preface this by saying I love my husband very much and value our time together. That said, he just got home from 24 hour duty and I did sleep REALLY well last night, right smack in the middle of the bed!

5. Do you believe in ghosts? Yup. And our dog, Gracie, can see them. It's the only time she ever barks.

6. Do you consider yourself creative? I am wondrously creative!!!

7. Do you think O.J. killed his wife? Yes. 'Nuff said.

8. Jennifer Aniston or Angelina Jolie? (silly, I know ... but very "now") Jennifer Aniston. But I'm not a big Brad Pitt fan, so he can have Angelina and let Jen get someone better.

9. Can you honestly say you know ANYTHING about politics? I know a lot about politics. But I don't enjoy politics, so I don't pay a lot of attention.

10. Do you know how to play poker? I did in college, not sure if I remember everything now. A pair of two's will beat just about everything, right? No?

11. Have you ever been awake for 48 hours straight?! Hmmmm, I don't think so. 24 hours, definitely. 36, probably. 48, no.

12. What's your favorite commercial? I hate commercials. But the PetSmart (or is it PetCo?) commercial with the dachshund that has a toy longer than himself is hilarious.

13. Who was your first love? Mike Webb. (Ooooh, I wonder if that will get me some interesting Google search links? Hi Mike!)

14. If you're driving in the middle of the night, and no one is around you, do you run a red light? Nope. I'm horribly boring like that.

15. Do you have a secret that no one knows but you? I don't think so. Jason and my best friend from college know just about everything there is to know. OH! Um, yeah, I just thought of something.

16. Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees? Couldn't care less. Now ask me San Francisco Giants or Oakland A's, definitely the Giants!

17. Have you ever been Ice Skating? Not for years, but I loved it when I was a kid.

18. How often do you remember your dreams? The scary ones I usually remember, that's about it though.

19. What's the one thing on your mind? I'm hungry.

20. Do you always wear your seat belt? YES! Why wouldn't you?

21. What talent do you wish you had? I wish I could really dance.

22. Do you like Sushi? I've had some I liked, but I've had more that I didn't.

23. What do you wear to bed? Really sexy cotton boxers and an old t-shirt. I can't sleep if I'm not comfortable.

24. Do you truly hate anyone? Wow. That's a serious question. I really don't think I do. I dislike some people, dislike their actions, but hate is stronger than that.

25. If you could sleep with one famous person, who would it be? Sleep as in "rest quietly beside until morning"? No? Um, I don't think I'd turn away Joaquin Phoenix if he came knocking on my door. And Jason would leave me in a heartbeat for Kira Kneightly (pre-skeletal days).

26. Do you know anyone in jail? There are a few friends from our past that it wouldn't shock me to learn they're in jail.

27. What food do you find disgusting? Brussel Sprouts for me, artichokes for Jason, anything covered in sauce for the kids.

28. Have you ever made fun of your friends behind their back? Heck yeah!

29. Have you ever been punched in the face? By my kids as they flail, yes. By an adult, no.

30. Do you believe in angels and demons? It's hard to believe in one without the other, isn't it? And yet I find it easier to believe in angels. Let's leave it at, I believe in ghosts or some kind of spirit activity left behind after people are gone.

Whew!! That was crazy! Make sure you click on my DSP Blog Pals over there ---> to see what everyone else said!

Are we ever good enough?

Are you pleased with what you look like? If you could change any part of yourself what would it be?

Yikes. I can't believe I chose this as today's prompt. Let's see how honest we all can be, shall we?

I can be typical and say I would love to lose a few pounds, or a few more. But really, I'm okay with where I am in the grand scale of things. (Adam, that pun was for you!) I actually have no idea what I weigh, I just like to make sure my clothes fit right. And right now, they fit. I do want to join a gym when George goes to school in a couple of years. Not to lose weight, but to maintain some semblance to fitness. I want to be able to be as active as I want to be as the years go on, not have to debate an activity because it might be too exhausting. (Wow, any English teachers please ignore all the passive verbs in that last sentence, I don't feel like rewording it, but boy is it bad!)

I have freckles. Lots of 'em. But I've never minded them. Without them, my skin would be so white, I would blind people. And since I don't want to be responsible for that, I'll keep the freckles.

I do have an issue with the fact that my face is losing color. What is it? Age? Childbirth? What makes all the pretty pigment in lips and cheeks disappear? I've never been big on make-up, but I find myself in that aisle more and more these days.

And then there's my hair. I love it. I hate it. And it's turning white. What once was gradual, is speeding up at a frightening pace. I'll put off dying it as long as I can, but when I start looking like a skunk in photographs, let me know, will you? I chopped it off recently, here's the layout that paid homage to that grand tradition:

All in all, I'm happy with myself. I recognize myself, anyone else in the mirror would be frightening. So? How about you? What would you change?

Birthday Fun

My Baby

The Man Who Wouldn't Give Up

We're supposed to tell our proposal stories today. Jason says that I agreed to marry him to get him to stop pestering me. Boy, that backfired!

The story of our courtship can be read in these two layouts:
Soul Mates, left
Soul Mates, right

We dated on and off for more than eight years before we married. The off times were not due to a lack of love, just wrong time, wrong place. We both had things we needed to do and we needed to grow up some before we were ready to be adults. But we both knew when it was time. Jason had come to visit me from Italy (where he was stationed at the time) and we had actually gone ring shopping.... for the future..... or so I thought.

I was in college and working full time and had to do both on the last day of his visit. He took me from place to place so he could use my car. We had planned on going out to dinner after I got done with work and then I would drive him to the airport for his red-eye flight.

I worked for Sony and they had a policy of not letting visitors past the lobby unescorted. We had arranged that I would meet him in the parking lot. But when I got done with work, I walked out to find Jason in his full set of dress blues in the lobby. Mind you, nobody that I worked with had ever met him, since he was stationed out of the country. So we got a LOT of sideways glances and grins from my coworkers. He said he wanted to take me out to a nice dinner and his blues were the only nice clothes he had with him. Okay, that sounds reasonable.

But neither of us were very hungry, so we decided to go for a walk first. We drove to a park that meanders along the McKenzie River and walked for a while. I led us to a bench just outside a beautiful rose garden. (It was late April, they were gorgeous, and am I psychic or what?) After a few minutes of mindless chit chat in which I kept tearing up because he was leaving that night, he got down on one knee. Yup, I lost it. About the only things I remember are taking his sunglasses off so I could see his eyes and some middle-aged women walking by on the path behind us, smiling broadly.

The worst part? Within an hour, we were on the road to the airport. The best part? I got to shock my friends at school and work the next day with a gorgeous diamond ring on my finger.

Happy birthday, Jason! I love you, even when you pester me!

Big Beds, Baby Breath, and Boy Am I Tired!!

So we finally decided that George was trying to tell us something with his weekly, well, almost daily, catapulting out of his crib. And even if he wasn't trying to tell us anything, I REALLY didn't feel like making another trip to the ER anytime soon. Partway through yesterday's nap (after his final leap to freedom that resulted in a scraped nose), I took hex wrench in hand and changed his crib into a toddler bed. He was intrigued at first, but not so much after I turned off the lights and left the room. But, after a lot of crying, he fell asleep for the last 15 minutes or so of nap time.

Last night, he went right to bed without a fuss and fell asleep quickly. Victory! Well almost. He woke up sometime after 2 am and I found him crying in a corner of his room. I think he just got disoriented, but it really freaked him out and he was NOT going back into that bed. After listening to him cry for a while, I took a blanket and pillow into his room and prepared for a long night. I rocked him for a long time, then I got him to lie down with me on the floor next to his bed. As long as I had my arm around him and he could bury his face in mine, he was happy.

When does that switch happen? The one that pollutes sweet, baby breath and turns it into nasty, night breath? Emma could raise the dead with her morning breath, but I was nose to pacifier for at least an hour last night, and loved smelling his still babyish smell. It amazes me that at some point, he will become a "real" kid and I won't want to be that close to him in the wee hours of the morning.

Anyway, sometime after 4 am, I put a relaxed but no-where-near-sleepy boy back into his bed. He spent another 1/2 hour or so laughing and playing and I escaped back to my room.
This morning, I found an exhausted little boy, sleeping soundly in his bed. Today, for nap, he seemed excited to go to bed and didn't fuss as I left. I had to go in there once after some overly enthusiastic jumping put him on the floor once again. But, my fingers are crossed that he will sleep and tonight will go easier.

Wish me luck!

I took a stand!

There are all sorts of quasi-political reasons for not shopping at Wal-Mart. They've had union trouble, they've been accused of various prejudices, they tend to find their way around zoning laws whenever they set their mind to building a new store, etc. I've seen small businesses shut down by the introduction of a Wal-Mart to a rural area. But that's not my fight. My reasons are much simpler.

Yeah, you can go to one store and buy fresh watermelon, new socks, Playstation games, engine degreaser, a swing set, and a dozen goldfish in one swoop. And often for several cents cheaper than the other stores. But you know what? I got really tired of spending any money at all for products that fall apart, malfunction, fade, die, and generally disappoint. Plus, the added bonus of going through check stands (slowly) only to be "greeted" by a surly clerk (after she was done chatting about her no-good boyfriend to the clerk at the next stand who was filing her nails) who obviously didn't want to be working there any more than I wanted to be shopping there. I was usually lucky to get a "hello", even luckier if I could understand the mumble coming out of her mouth. And God forbid that you ever have a question. Blanker looks you never did see.

So I stopped going. As of today, I have been Wal-mart sober for one year.

I'm not against big business. I will sing the praises of Target until you forcefully remove the vocal chords from my throat. I am against poor customer service, shoddy products, and the assumption that just because you have a big name, you have the right to be and do wherever and whatever you want.

I urge you all to join me in my fight! Not that it will possibly make a difference, I'm not that deluded. But, really, it is amazing how wonderful it feels not to struggle your way through that accident zone of a parking lot. To go to stores where you are smiled at and *gasp* offered help! To pay your money, knowing that you may actually be able to use that set of Ginzu knives for more than a week!

Come on!! I'll see you all at Target tomorrow morning!

Busy livin'

Sorry. I'm a lousy blogger right now. My mom is here on an unexpected visit, which means that I actually have an adult here to talk to during the day instead of just spending vast amounts of time on the computer! And it's funny, you think having two kids at home all day instead of one wouldn't be that big of a change. But it is. Especially when the extra kid gets bored easily and is smarter than I am!

But I'm keeping the blog prompts going, so visit my DSP friends for fun stuff ------->

And I'm still creating scrapbook pages, so visit my DSP gallery for pretty stuff ----->

And Jason keeps changing my radio stations, so visit Pandora for a sound thrill ----->

And here's a picture of a Mega Blocks tower, just for fun!

Dessert Test

Dessert Test No cheating. If all of the desserts listed below were sitting in front of you, which would you choose? Pick your dessert, and then look to see what psychiatrists think about you!
Sorry you can only pick one.
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Angel Food Cake
Brownies
Lemon Meringue Pie
Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Icing
Strawberry Short Cake
Chocolate Icing on Chocolate Cake
Ice Cream
Carrot Cake
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NO. You can't change your mind once you scroll down, so think carefully what your choice will be!
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OK - Now that you've made your choice, this is what psychiatric research says about you:

ANGEL FOOD CAKE... Sweet, loving, cuddly. You love all warm and fuzzy items. A little nutty at times. Sometimes you need an ice cream cone at the end of the day.. Others perceive you as being childlike and immature at times.

BROWNIES... You are adventurous, love new ideas, and are a champion of underdogs and a slayer of dragons. When tempers flare up, you whip out your saber. You are always the oddball with a unique sense of humor and direction. You tend to be very loyal.

LEMON MERINGUE... Smooth, sexy, and articulate with your hands, you are an excellent after-dinner speaker and a good teacher. But don't try to walk and chew gum at the same time A bit of a diva at times, but you have many good friends.

VANILLA CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE ICING... Fun loving, sassy, humorous. Not very grounded in life; very indecisive and lack motivation Everyone enjoys being around you. You are a practical joker. Others should be cautious in making you mad. However, you are a friend for life.

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE... Romantic, warm, loving. You care about other people and can be counted on in a pinch! You have many friends who love to be around you. You also tend to melt. You can be overly emotional at times. Your sense of loyalty and devotion are paramount.

CHOCOLATE ON CHOCOLATE... Sexy; always ready to give and receive. Very adventurous, ambitious, and passionate. You can appear to have a cold exterior but are warm on the inside. Not afraid to take chances. Will not settle for anything average in life. Love to laugh.

ICE CREAM... You like sports, whether it is baseball, football, basketball, or soccer. If you could, you would like to participate, but you enjoy watching sports. You don't like to give up the remote control. You tend to be self-centered and high maintenance.

CARROT CAKE... You are a very fun loving person, who likes to laugh. You are fun to be with. People like to hang out with you. You are a very warm hearted person and a little quirky at times. You have many loyal friends.

I chose Chocolate Icing on Chocolate Cake. The description is frighteningly accurate. I know some people think I'm stand-offish until they really meet me. I'm just shy, which comes across as cold. I absolutely will not settle for average; I don't believe in complaining, I believe in changing the situation. And I LOVE to laugh!

So, what are you?

Oh, you wanted fireworks??

Yeah, that wasn't happening. It was a beautiful day, all day. The kids played outside, we bar-b-qued, all the normal 4th of July fun stuff. Until 6 o'clock. Then the thunderstorms rolled in. Jason and Emma went off to post anyway after the first one. Every year they host a festival that is really fun for the kids. Emma talks about it all year. We decided they would go ahead so she could play in the bounce houses and the bubble machine and George and I would join them later, just in time for the fireworks.

So they get there. And walk through the rain to the stadium where it's held. When they get there, everthing had been shut down due to the metal stakes that hold down the bounce houses and the metal framing of the bubble machine. Emma's quivering lip scored her a frisbee and a ball. A very sad little girl came home last night. But all was not lost!

In between thunderstorms, all the neighbors who had purchased fireworks (it is amazing what is legal around here) gathered in the street and put on a show. Here were our little contributions. We had fun playing anyway!

Happy INDEPENDENCE Day!!

Happy 4th of July everyone!! What a fun holiday!! No responsibilities, just good food, friends, fireworks, and fun! Some great friends of ours, that we haven't seen since we moved from our last post, came to visit us yesterday and we spent the day laughing, reminiscing, and talking about the future. What a GREAT day! But as this is a celebration of independence, I asked my blog pals to think about what that word means to them.

If you think about it, the origin of Independence Day is not about having no responsibilities, but the opposite. A bunch of really gutsy people breaking away from everything familiar in order to live as they believe. These days that doesn't sound so unusual, but stick me and a bunch of strangers in the middle of a remote wilderness and tell us to create a New World, and I think I might start looking around for the Survivor cameras and begging for a cell phone! As much as I like to think of myself as an independent person, I know I really am not.

Back when we were first dating, when I was still in high school, I remember telling Jason that I wouldn't marry him until I had completed college and lived independently for a while. I needed to know that I could survive on my own if I ever needed to. And I did. But you know what? Being independent is a lot more fun with someone else! I'm still very much my own person, as is he. But we like sharing our independence and helping each other to be "the best we can be"!

Now the main focus of our life together is to help our kids become happy, healthy, INDEPENDENT people. Crazy! We will spend the next 15 plus years teaching our kids that they can live without us! That is amazing to me. I know that some animals give birth and then walk away, with the baby instantly able to survive on its own. But we human animals are drastically different. I want my kids to be independent, but heck, I want them always to need their Mama!! Hopefully, their version of independence will end up the same as mine. Able to live their lives with confidence, knowledge, and opinions. Not ever afraid to be "the best they can be"!

Have a wonderful Independence Day, and remember to thank everyone that works together to give you your independence! For our part, we thank our parents and ancestors for creating strong, independent children, I thank Jason and we both thank our military friends and leaders for working for freedom, we thank our friends for enriching our lives, and we thank our kids for inspiring us to enjoy our lives and the freedoms we have!

Three, three, three posts in one!

Okay, so I've been quiet the last few days. I'll try to cover the last three day's worth of blog prompts in this one entry.

First, what has made me laugh lately? One of the reasons I married Jason, is because he makes me laugh out loud every day. I can't for the life of me think of what exactly he's said recently, but I know he's cracked me up. George continues to have a laughfest in his sleep almost every night around 10:00. His big, belly laughs make us laugh out loud. I love that he obviously has very happy dreams. And Emma? Well, she's BIG into knock, knock jokes right now. So I'll share the one she told me in the van the other day. Just a warning, she's five. And she doesn't totally get the whole idea yet.

Knock, knock.

who's there?

Boo

Boo who?

Now, the punch line would normally be something like "why are you crying" or "boo hoo, I'm so sad!" But that's not her style. Here's her version:

Boo hoo, there's a pineapple on your head and you slipped in the mud!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Hilarious, isn't she?

Second, exercise goals. Well, of course that leads me back to the previous prompt about what makes me laugh! But really, I've noticed that I've been feeling exceptionally sluggish lately. And I think it's because we haven't been taking our evening walks. We normally walk 1 1/2 miles every night after dinner. But because of Jason's work schedule, his bout with the flu, and icky weather, we haven't walked in over a week. I didn't realize how much I enjoy those walks. It's a good time for us to talk about the day or the future, we see our neighbors, and stretch our legs a bit.

And ever since he became an instructor, Jason's gone from exercising every morning to two or three mornings a month, if he's lucky. The instructors work longer hours than the rest of the soldiers and are expected to exercise on their own time. And of course, maintain standards in order to be an example to the students. Well, it's awfully hard to find that extra time, especially if they want to have any family time (or heck, sleep) at all.

All in all, we need to find some time!! Got any?

And lastly, if you're still here, how does the weather affect my mood, creativity, and outlook on life? Well, for starters, I'm melting. We're just getting into the muggy 100 degree weather and it's already sapped all my energy. I haven't done anything creative in days and it's really hard to stay enthusiastic for the kids all day. Luckily, I have really great kids. We have a fairly strict routine with a good mix of activities and "down time". They seem to need the periodic breaks throughout the day as much as I do. The swimming lessons have helped tremendously. They get us out of the house relatively early, before it gets too hot, and get us active. So much better than just sitting around until we all feel ready to start the day!

So my goal for the next week (there is a week break in between swim lesson sessions) is: stay active! Go to the park, for walks, anything... and do it early in the day before the weather has a chance to steal our energy!

Coffee!!!!!!!!

You are a Black Coffee

At your best, you are: low maintenance, friendly, and adaptable At your worst, you are: cheap and angsty You drink coffee when: you can get your hands on it Your caffeine addiction level: high

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

The Name Game

This one is from Lani, otherwise known as Jovi Girl!The Story behind the name: Tell us about the reasons you gave your child the name you did. Or it could be a pet or the story behind your own name or a friends name.

Emma was named years ago, over a decade ago actually. I have always loved that name and every Emma I had ever met was such a sincere, friendly, happy person. I loved the old fashioned feel of it and it just felt right. There was never any debate as to what our first baby's name would be, once we knew it was a girl.

George we debated a bit more. It is a family name on Jason's side, but honestly, that wasn't why we originally thought of it. We have a very feminine last name and wanted our boy to have a solid boy name that wouldn't be shortened into something that sounded silly with it. (The fact that we often call him Georgie will be ignored for the moment). Jason's name choosing system was that it needed to be one that sounded right when paired with "King" or "Sir". Sounds strange, I admit, but it really helped us rule out some choices! King Matthew just didn't have the same royal feel as King George!

But before both of those critters, there was Gracie. And she named herself. You see, I wasn't quite as in love with her as Jason was when he brought her home from the pound days after our wedding. It took us a day or two to name her, as my contributions to the choices were, shall we say, less than kind. In my defense, she was UGLY when we first got her. Dirty, it was obvious she had recently had a litter, hyper, you name it. But she loved to play. And one of our first fetch sessions inside our tiny apartment led to her name. When she plays, she is so focused on the toy, she sees nothing else. Including walls. She jumped, or fell, off of our couch (that she proceeded to EAT the following weekend...another story for another post), spun towards the hallway to follow a ball, and ran face first into a wall. It didn't faze her though, she reoriented herself immediately and ran down the hall. Her full name is Amazing Grace. We call her Gracie.

Weekend Blogging

ArtCMom's Prompt: If your house caught on fire or were in a flood, hurricane, etc....besides your family- what 1 or 2 items would you try to save and why?

I would like to say that I would be wonderfully organized and would grab my CDs of pictures, my purse, the Important Papers file, clothes, car keys, shoes, my entire computer, my husbands uniforms, my make-up (don't want to scare the neighbors, you know), etc. But truthfully, if anything catastrophic does ever happen, I don't really care if my pj's are a bit too revealing and I lose every picture I've ever taken. Okay, that will break my heart for a while, but life does go on, and this last year or so is VERY well documented on the web!

My husband, our kids, our dog, and the kids' special blankets. That's all we need.

Man, it twists my stomach to even think of this happening. I feel so sorry for anyone to whom this has been a reality. The fear is unimaginable. But thinking about it does bring home exactly how much STUFF we have. And how completely unnecessary most of it is.

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Speaking of stuff, I want to thank Jason and Mom for their birthday gifts. When I told some of my friends what I had received, I had to laugh. Because, you see, Jason got me a really cool, stylish, comfortable, WIDE computer chair. And Mom sent me gift cards for a couple of stores. So, obviously, I'll be able to sit here and chat with you all that much more and let the lower half of me sssssssppppppprrrrrrreeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaadddddddddddddd.

And then I can go shopping for new clothes to accommodate the new girth! Yipee!!

Birthdays ending in Zero!

The prompts for yesterday and today were: 10 things to do before my next birthday ending in zero and the best 10 things I have accomplished since my LAST birthday that ended in a zero. Well, as of Sunday, it will be one year since my last birthday that ended in zero, so I'm going to have to do some thinking about that second part. 10 accomplishments in one year is a lot to ask around here!

So we'll start with the future. Jason has only one thing he wants to accomplish before his next Big-Zero, ownership of a '69 Dodge Charger. That's the make and model of the Dukes of Hazzard General Lee, for those of you unfamiliar with this particular strain of pop culture. If he does nothing else but save up enough for that, he'll be happy!

What do I want to accomplish? That's harder, most of my accomplishments revolve around the kids. But, I'm hoping that we have our ranch by then, or at least live in a rural area. (If the directions to our house include the words "turn off the paved road...", I'll be ecstatic!) I would love to have a few more publications under my belt and possibly some of my business dreams will be reality by then (you with me, Bethy?). I hope I'm earning enough money by working from home/over the internet that I am still able to be a stay at home mom in nine years. I would like to have taken a "real" vacation by then, too. One that doesn't include kids, lodging that belongs to a family member, or microwaved food. Mostly, I just hope to have a healthy, happy family and continue down this crazy road we're on!

What have I accomplished in the last year? Me personally? Two scrapbook pages published. Made it onto the Digital Elite Team. I'm teaching an online class at DSU. Non-scrapbooking related??? I've found a new Ben & Jerry's flavor to love (Dublin Mudslide, if you're interested). Ummm, something else that doesn't include my kids???? I'm happy with life, does that count?

I'll try to think of more, I'm sure I've done something. Give me a couple more years, okay?

For the Grandparents

Fun in the pool!

George found the water jet

Ain't no way this kid will drown!

Master of his domain, in the "deep" end!

Hallelujah!!

The wonderful people at the pool have taken pity on George and my scalp! They've given us permission to use the baby wading pool during Emma's swim class!! Technically, it's closed until afternoon open swim time; but as they said, there's nobody around to see us, so who cares? So, for the next month, both my babies and I will be getting tan every morning from 9:20 to 10.

Okay, Emma will get tan while George and I slather sun block on in the hopes of reducing the burns. Yeah, lucky him, he may look just like Jason, but he got my skin. He's so white, he's practically see through. His little naked romp through the backyard the other day earned him a pink back, shoulders, and *ahem* tushie.

Back to swimming lessons...they ended them today by letting the kids go down the two tube style water slides they have in the deeper end. Mind you, Emma weighs basically nothing. And the slides are steep. And have water running down them to make them extra slick. She went shooting out of those things and skimmed across the water like a skipping rock! She didn't actually start going into the water until the lifeguard/teacher caught her and lowered her down. It was hilarious!! And she can't wait for tomorrow!!!

Today's prompt was about compliments.
I would say the highest compliment you could pay me would be to tell me I'm doing a good job with my kids. I think I am, but everyone needs reassurance sometimes. Especially when one kid is pulling your hair out.
Then, of course, lie and tell me I'm gorgeous and you can't see any wrinkles or white hair. 'Cause I'm shallow like that.
And value my opinion. I'm not asking that you agree, but agree that my opinions are valid. That tells me you value me and think I have a brain in my head. That is the best compliment.

Swimming Lessons

Just a quick response to the comments from yesterday. Did Emma enjoy the swimming lessons?

Heck YES!!!! I knew she would, she has enjoyed them every summer. She was just nervous about a new place with a new teacher, etc. As soon as we got there, she was fine. And afterwards? She didn't stop talking at the top of her lungs for an hour. Ask Jason and her Gramma & Papa, she just had to call them and tell them all about it!

And today, she came bursting out of her room shouting, "Today is tomorrow!! I can go back to swim class!!!" So yeah, she likes them fine. We're even going to a friend's house to swim today after lessons, so she'll get a double dose. And George will get to go in their pool. And me. Eek. I guess swim suit season is officially here, huh? But I haven't lost those five pounds yet!

More later, after our adventures!

If I never left the house...

What would happen (or have happened) if you didn't leave your house today? How far-reaching would the effects of that action be?

That was my blog prompt this morning, and darned it all if I haven't stumped myself! I don't think the effects would have been very far reaching really, just on me and the kids. But then again.....

If we hadn't left the house, Emma would have given in to her fears about the first day of swimming lessons and possibly never gotten over them, thereby never learning to swim. And far off in the future there may be a moment when it is crucial that she has that skill. So not beginning that learning process today may have endangered her life or that of someone else.

If we hadn't left the house, George wouldn't have been so angry and jealous of his big sister playing in a pool and I would have several strands of hair still in my head, rather than his fist. And those strands would someday soon have turned white, aging me that much faster. Better to be bald, I suppose.

If we hadn't left the house, I would have paid a bunch of non-refundable money for unattended swimming lessons and I would be angry. And my anger knows no bounds. (Just kidding, I am a very mild-mannered person, especially when it comes to budgets and planned activities. Really. I am. I never stress.) (Jason, be quiet.)

If we hadn't left the house, we wouldn't have gone to the park before lunch and the kids wouldn't be as sleepy for naptime as they were today. And I wouldn't have interupted this blog entry for several minutes to go cuddle with Emma. Which would have left me feeling as if something were missing. Which would have made me sad. Which would have left me no choice but to lay on the couch eating chocolate and reading a trashy novel. Hmmmmmm. Might have to do that anyway.

If we hadn't left the house, we would all have been on each other's nerves by the time Jason gets home from work and he would walk in to a very unhappy household. And he would feel guilty for leaving the house each day. And he would go to work feeling bad tomorrow. And he would get in trouble for not leaving his personal problems at home. And he would get fired. And.....oh wait, you don't get fired in the Army. And they're actually pretty good about letting soldiers deal with personal stuff when they need to. But they might make him work off his frustration by doing a few extra sit-ups. And really, who wants to do extra, or any, sit-ups?

All in all, I'm pretty glad we left home today!!

Guess what we forgot!

I'm sorry, I've been horribly remiss in my blogging duties! Now that school is out, I find myself with far less computer time. Swimming lessons start tomorrow, though, so I'm sure I'll have stories to tell! For now, a censored version of an email I sent out to family this morning.

Guess what we forgot to drain and put away yesterday?

Guess who found it?

Hope you're having a great Father's Day!!

Finding Peace

This is what I challenged my blog pals to write about and it was also my theme for the day. Last night was spent dealing with misunderstandings and frustration and I felt the need to release it all today. Don't worry, all is fine! Friendships and business dealings in the virtual world are as fraught with drama as those in the "real" world. But they have the added impediment of not being able to read body language or vocal inflections. So meanings can get lost, words can be misunderstood, and feelings can get hurt. And the waiting for email can be agony. But it does come, and if you are patient, problems do get solved.

So today I needed to relax, and remember who I am. And who my kids are. In some ways, I am lucky that it's pouring rain today. Normally having the kids penned up all day would drive me to distraction. But today, I needed to focus on them and play a bit. Did you know that the Candyland game can last virtually forever if you continually get the wrong cards? And that jumping on the bed is good for your health? (So Emma informs me.) We've had fun.

Stepping back and regrouping is good for everyone I think. It is so easy to get fixated on a little issue until it is all you can see or think about. I have found scrapbooking to be such a great creative outlet and it allows me to get down all my memories and emotions. I love sharing these stories with friends and family. Lately I've also been doing a private art project along different lines. I thought I'd share what I created today in honor of the Finding Peace theme.

Journaling: Finding peace within myself, letting go of unimportant details, paying attention to me, and my family, things that can make me happy. Like rain, and flowers, and kisses!

I hope you all are having a peaceful day, and are remembering what's really important in life.

Addictions

Specifically mine. With the exception of my drug addict-like reaction to an unread book in the house, all my current addictions are computer related. I have found a way to finally feel like an artist, and I am reveling in that freedom and fun.

My brother wrote a blog entry a while back about our family's early entry into the computer world. We grew up in Silicon Valley, the birthplace of the computer. Our father studied computers in college before they really existed. We had at least one home computer as soon as they were available, and one specifically for "the kids" by the time I was in Jr. High. We went to the same high school that the founders of Apple Computers had, so our school district was well equipped very early on.

The internet system started emerging by the time I was in college (at least that's when I became aware of it). I remember "chatting" over the Gopher system that connected universities. It was such a thrill to feel that connection!

Now, of course, some of my best friends are ones that I have never truly met. (Not yet!) I log on as I walk through the house turning on lights, getting coffee started, and well before I can really be considered awake. There are several digital scrapbooking sites, blogs, and other art related sites that I visit daily; and I frankly think that I would go into convulsions if I couldn't.

It is so amazing how the world is changing and shrinking. Of course, it makes vacation plans a lot harder to make. I want to go visit my friends all over America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa! Where to go first?
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Oh, and the mouse count is up to ten!

Score Card

Just a quick update:

My van was run through the dishwasher today. We're now in the middle of a HUGE thunderstorm.

Both front and back lawns have been mowed. Front one needs it again already.

Daddy has taken Emma out of the house during naptime twice now. I keep forgetting to take advantage of that time and sleep.

Oh, and the mouse situation? As of five minutes ago, it's mice - 0, Jason - 6. Yay!
(EDIT as of Friday morning: mice - 0, Jason - 7)

Books from Childhood

Did anybody not love Goodnight Moon? Now that I'm a mommy, I read it every day. At least twice, but usually more than that; plus reciting it from memory while George turns the pages as I unload the dishwasher, put on make-up, walk through the house, eat... you get the idea. But I remember loving it too. Something about the simple rhythms and rhymes.

But really, I find the "goodnight nobody" page a bit unnerving. Just me?

If you look closely at the picture, you'll see the corners of the book are cut. That's because Emma used to chew on this book. She chewed on a lot of books. Luckily, she grew out of that, because I hate to throw out books, even the chewed ones.

Following Glynis' example, I've started reading Charlotte's Web to Emma. That was another one of my favorites as I got a bit older. Emma is fascinated by it, because she's had the movie for a couple of years. It actually is very true to the book, down to the smallest bit of dialogue. (Charlotte's Web II is a travesty of animation, don't waste your time or money.)

I loved, and still own, all of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, Chronicles of Narnia, Louisa May Alcott's books, Shel Silverstein poetry (especially the book "The Giving Tree", makes me cry every time), The Poky Little Puppy, and so many more. They all sit on Emma and George's shelves now, along with countless others. I can't wait to read some of them again with my kids. In fact, I'm going to go dig out the Narnia books, I want to read those again now!

Home, Sweet, Home!!

LITERALLY!!

Jason knew exactly what I would want as a souvenier! The trip yesterday went smoothly for all of us. Jason had a row to himself on the plane, so it didn't feel too crowded. He was up for 24 hours yesterday, so he was justifiably exhausted by the time we got home. But then again, so were we all. The kids spent most of the day in the car and didn't get naps, but handled it all really well.

I am so thankful to have family near the airport. After 2 1/2 hours in the car, we were able to go to someone's home, have a snack, go for a nice walk, visit, and check flight info. We left my cousin's house shortly after when we knew Jason's flight had landed and as we walked into the International baggage claim area, he was emerging from customs. Perfect timing!! The kids came unglued! Well, actually, they came glued. Stuck themselves to their Daddy and didn't let go. George literally climbed up Jason and got himself onto his shoulders (his favorite seat), and Emma hugged him so hard she cut off circulation to his legs! Oh yeah, I was excited too! We are so glad to have him home.

We lucked out with traffic and got out of the Metro area fairly quickly. We stopped at McD's shortly after to let the kids go crazy at a Playplace while Jason and I inhaled some food. All in all, the day was long, but good. Oh, and guess what I saw out my window this morning?

:)

My Little Tattle Tale

Okay all you parents out there, I need advice! My 5 year old was taught repeatedly in preschool to let the teachers know if any of the students were doing something wrong. They kept a close watch on behavior and manners. And I reinforced it by asking her, when she would come home with tales of hitting, if she had told the teachers. I wanted to help her become someone who walks away from violence, instead of reacting. And similarly, her teachers were big on using words to solve problems, instead of physical interactions. So basically, what we've created is a tattle tale.

Which I don't mind to some degree. I always want her to feel she can come to me with problems. And she helps me keep an eye on George (although she does feel the need to tell me of even the smallest rule infractions, all day, every day). The problem arises when she plays with her friends. There is a family on our street that has a daughter close in age to Emma. On a street full of boys, this little girl is, by default, Emma's best friend. This family is nice enough, and I'm glad Emma has a friend close by, but their rules and behavior are much different from ours. I could go on and on about that, but suffice it to say that when the girls get together there is a LOT of tattling going on. Again, I can deal with that....when they're at our house. But when she goes over there and complains to the other mom about bad behavior, well, it doesn't go over quite as well. And granted, she's VERY quick to tattle.

Which brings us to my question. How to temper this impulse? I'm trying to teach her to talk to the person breaking the rules first, not to run straight to the adults. But as we all know, little kids don't necessarily obey other kids. I don't want Emma to be a whiney kid that complains to the adults, every time something doesn't go her way. But heck, I also don't want her getting hit! It's so hard to teach that fine line between dealing with something yourself, and getting someone else involved. How did/do you do it?

Honey Do List!

So, Jason's away for just a couple more days, but I happen to know he's checking this blog regularly. Do you think if I post my Honey Do list here, it has a higher chance of getting done? Or maybe it's the guilt from being away for two weeks that will do it.

The grass. It is long.
The weeds. They are longer.
The mouse in our garage. Lives on.
The cars. They are dirty.
The mommy. She is tired.

Looking forward to Monday. Don't miss your flight, okay?

One thing we did today

Educational plans

What would I study if I could go back to school?

I would love to take more classes in Linguistics. I took one accent and dialect class and it was FASCINATING. Studying the roots of the different English dialects was amazing, I'd love to do more.

I wouldn't mind finishing out the Theatre degree I started. I actually think I'm only a couple of credits away. But when I switched schools, there were no Theatre classes so I couldn't take those last few.

I never conquered German. I would like to feel like I could have a real conversation in another language.

I need to study Web design and technology. If we ever get our ranch, I'll need it for advertising. Then again, Beth can do that for me!

Someone else mentioned photography, I would like to do that too. I'm good, but I would like to be great.

More Literature classes, I loved those.

Oh heck, just being back on a college campus would be great! There is always so much energy and you can feel your brain cells expanding!

Meme of 5

Alright Pat, you got me to play, but don't say I didn't warn you!

5 things in my fridge: The first things I see when I open the door are - moldy green beans, the biggest container of Country Crock my husband could possibly find on this planet, milk, multiple kinds of cheese, a bread drawer full of bags containing one roll or one tortilla or one bun or one slice of bread.

5 items in my closet: Make-up to hide dark circles and make me not look deathly ill, my husband's uniforms, various clothes left over from my working days that I somehow can't get rid of, shoes for fancy clothes I never wear, toys we're hiding from the kids for various reasons.

5 items in my purse: Hahahahahaha! I love how you termed it "my" purse! I have four teddy grahams and assorted teddy graham limbs, Emma's sunglasses, Kleenex, Sesame Street bandaids, and an empty juice cup (not mine).

5 items in my car: Two full-size Magna-Doodles (the two car-sized ones are in the house, go figure), 5 million kid CDs and a dozen adult CDs with dust on them, my cat-eye sunglasses, Emma's school ID that we no longer need, and a tarp. What?

5 people to tag: I'm so not subjecting anyone else to this horror!! However, anyone that chooses to may do it, and let me know so I can come laugh at your messes!

Firsts

When I gave out the prompt this morning, I thought that I'd be writing all about Emma's first day of summer and all that entails. Well, we've had some other firsts today, so I'll just make a list.

Today was Emma's first day of summer vacation.

DSU 198 launched for the first time (of many, I hope).

Today was the first time I was able to have someone outside our family watch George (while he was awake) without him screaming until my return.

I locked myself out of the house for the first time. The spare keys were inside. Convenient, no? Luckily, we haven't yet fixed the lock on one of our doors that is fairly easy to pop.

I signed my first born up for Kindergarten.

I completely forgot that today was Thursday and that George has speech therapy on Thursdays. For the first time, we were late. (Good thing I know the cops' hiding places!)

As much as I don't want to venture out into the muggy heat, I may have to use our new lawnmower for the first time. I'm afraid the lawn might swallow our kids and it's scheduled to thunderstorm off and on for the next few days.

It's only 2:30, I kinda hope there aren't anymore firsts today, I'm tired!