What Not to do When Traveling

Do NOT:

• Book travel Christmas week, the week before, the week of or until after Jan 3rd.
• Book travel around Thanksgiving and Easter while you're at it.
• Book your connecting flight though somewhere with a high likelihood of snow/ice/cancelation.
• Book your flight without travel insurance incase something bad happens, particularly if you ignore the above advice
• Fly through Chicago unless you intend to visit Chicago- regardless of the season
• Expect to see your bags
• Plan on getting to your destination when your itinerary says you will
• Joke "we'll probably get snowed in there, but oh well" and get upset when you DO get snowed in there
• Fly on budget airlines who won't try to get you on another flight in the next 4 days, even if it's on another airline.

DO:

• Fly when others are back at work/school. Create your new family traditional holiday to celebrate with big meal, decorations, even presents if you must- just plan it around other already established holidays- say- the "it's not leap year" holiday or "leap year day" holiday.
• Avoid Chicago
• And while you're at it, try avoiding Michigan and Minnesota as well. oh- and LaGuardia.
• Plan on wearing the same clothes and underwear you carried onto the plane with you until you get to go shopping
• Buy travel insurance- if you have it, you probably won't need it and it's worth the $15 gamble
• Know that your grandchildren won't sleep until you arrive, even if it IS 5 days from now.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good week!

We had a nice, quiet Christmas at home. And honestly, while it is always nice to be around extended family for the holidays, this was the first year I wasn't having at least a little pity party feeling like we were missing out.

There is something about not getting caught up in the who-got-who-what and who's comming to which house for Christmas/Christmas eve.. it was simple, relaxing time at home. Larry had the entire day off, which was also refreshing.

The highlight of the day was Joey's present. A rocket launcher. Yep. We have turned into "THOSE" parents again. When the twins were young- we read evey label for danger/choking hazzards, etc.. now.. heck.. label says 'ages 8+'? "ahhh.. that's for others- I got an advanced kid, he can figure it out"

How far we've come..

(you'll note the LACK of winter coats in our backyard yesterday. By New England standards, it was downright balmy. By SO CA standards, I guess it was a little cool- shortly before and after this pictures it was raining- when the sun was out it was nice, when it was in, it was cool and rainy)

2 Days until Christmas

• And I haven't mailed a single Christmas card.
• There is not a single un-eaten Christmas cookie in the house.
• I think I've gained 5 lbs from helping eat the cookies.
• I lost the receipts to the things I need to return.
• I mailed all the gifts to family late, so they won't get there tomorrow.
• It was 60 degrees today.

Failing Gingerbread 101

I was reading these online cutesy things to do with kids for Christmas and one was to make gingerbread graham-cracker houses.
I seemed to not understand the instructions on how to keep them together. I got the icing stiff, balanced the house of cards oh-so perfectly and... we ended up from something that semi-resembled houses (didn't think to take a picture of them, thinking I'd wait til they were decorated-- HA.. little did I know)
to these: (waiting the second time for the icing to dry)

To this- iced graham crackers with candy

And I also failed to read how to get the kids down off the sugar high from eating that much candy/icing in a few short hours.

Scenes from Friday

And...

Yes, there was a car sick kid..

Ah. I understand part 1

Snoppy, uh, I mean Belle sits on top of her kennel when she can climb up on it. (she's still pretty small and it and the floor are pretty slipery. I didn't witness how she got onto it.. but I think it was the running start and crashing when it was against the wall. In the middle of the floor it's running start and crashing on the floor or side of the kennel as it slides..)

I'd post the picture of it once I find where my camera walked off to with JM..

Today we're going to try to drive to the mountains to see/play in the snow. After 2 days of rain here, you can SEE the mountains and they have SNOW on top of them. It rained below 3000 or 4000 feet and the rest of us had 50 degree rain.

HOW cool is that?!

But the secret is out about how cool things are here- leads to my gripe about traffic.. millions have flocked to live here in paradise :-)


PS. did you know it's "required" to have tires on your chains when you drive into the mountains? I assume where we're going the Excursion will be just fine. Much like the news coverage of snow in VA the reporters interviewed the lines of native San Diegans in ditches spun out along the road They drove to check out the sight of snow but don't know how to drive in the white beauty.. then it cuts to the Highway Patrol guy who tells them to stay off the road and that it's required to have chains on their tires. wow. Chains were never required in New England. They'd have been helpful, I'm sure where our family lived in VT in my pre-driving days.. and there were a few times I wish I had more traction the year I lived in NH, but that what the bag of kitty litter in the trunk was for.. but chains? THAT was for the people who lived off the paved road-- WAYY off..
so.. I'll let you know how bad it is or if it's just because people here drive like maniacs. (I'm betting it's the maniac factor...)

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas

Life with JM

This kid is our most active kid. period. And I have a Sonia to compare him to who is in perpetual motion and highly distractable.

JM is not distractable. HE is a kid on a mission. Unfortunately the mission is never what he's supposed to be doing.

For example- last night- I was playing a game with the bigger kids on the dining room table and he was bored and mad that I wasn't letting him chew on the playing cards so he wandered off. I hear thumping and rumbling in the kitchen. I walk in and find he's helped himself to a yogurt, opened it and gotten himself a spoon.

He climbs and helps himself to the fruit in the fruit basket, has poured an entire pot of coffee onto the counter top (miraculously not burning himself), filled the sink with water and left it running and his current favorite activity- bouncing avocados, preferably into my coffee cup. I bought 12 avocados (we are in CA and they're cheap) and he managed to smash every one of them in about 10 minutes that I was there but not really noticing what he was doing. We now have lots of guacamole. He's also made Orange Juice with the oranges in the fruit basket.

He also has figured out how to put the side rail of his crib down and climb out, open the front door and walk out and climb over the gate I used to use to keep him and the puppy downstairs. He climbs over a baby gate. The very thing meant to contain him. I now have a taller gate he seems to take longer to scale. The normal height one slows him down less than a speed bump. At least it still slows puppy down.

And puppy.. an update on her. She is so very good with the kids. When we researched dogs, we read that all beagles were good with kids. And so far, that is certainly the case. Other breeds read "most labs/etc. are good with kids" but beagles- it said ALL. We probably should have read on because our beagle is not bright. And beagles have a distinct howl. The same one you hear in the background of "the fox and hound" THAT howl. THAT is her means of communication. Oi vey. Sorta wish we lived somewhere where the land around our house was measured in acres instead of feet. Her howl is a 20 acre howl. I think 20 acres away it's less annoying. I think I have 900 neighbors in 20 acres. (ok, I'm probably exaggerating.. maybe 80 neighbors.. but still...)

Snoopy is a beagle. And I suspect Charles Schultz had a beagle. We watched Charlie Brown with new intersest this week and noticed Snoopy howled, licked Lucy alot, carried his empty dish around and seemed, well.. odd for a dog. That's been our experience 2 weeks into this. Thus far she hasn't tried to hunt down the Red Barron, but I can see her doing something similarly odd.

She love to play, particularly with JM. He lights up when he sees her and in a small way, she seems to be speech therapy for him. He has added 'puppy, no, and bite' to his vocabulary- not in sequence, but he's said them a few times-- and he tries to talk to her. (she likes to bite his blanket and he gets upset, so the kids yell 'puppy no bite' I wish he added 'mommy I love you' to his vocab, but I guess I'll have to wait for that.

I know.. I'll probably be waiting a long time for that..

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

From the Military Ministry Breakfast this month at church, there were pictures with Santa and we had someone take a few of all us in front of the tree. Joey hasn't mastered smiling on cute, yet.

And from the FP Dept Christmas party here at NHCP- betcha never thought you'd see a bunch of Naval Officers or DRs singing Karaoke? No.. No.. Larry was not drinking. and yes, that is him up there, on his knees singing. That would be the residency director next to him and the past residency director just behind them. I'm pretty sure they weren't drinking either.

"you've lost that loving feeling... whoa that loving feeling"

a little creepy that 1/2 the group seemed to be serenading the other half.. of men. glad it wasn't "in the Navy" from the Village people.

And there was a theme- Ugly tie. We won second. I wish I took a picture of the tie.. no, wait.. I'm glad I didn't. It WAS UGLY - like you couldn't-buy-it-so-ugly. I made it from leopard print furry fleece- baby blue with black painted on leopard spots. Hideous. And unbelievably, Joanne's was selling this stuff on clearance for $10/a yard. I would have passed on it at $1/yard cept it was perfectly hideous for this project.

But it came in second to the tie a guy made from cutting up a piece of kitchen carpet. The contest was over in the above picture, so the tie was ditched. We won a basket of chocolate. Yippee. Even better than the bottle of liquor for first place :-)

Mi Vida Loca

Want to know HOW crazy I am?? you probably don't, but I'm going to tell you anyway.

So.. a day in the life..

6-something: toddler and puppy are up and both need to be changed/let out/fed

7-8ish: they're entertaining themselves and I'm finishing up packing the last few orders from the business. Kayla and Joey's up and I'm running referee between them and JM, feeding/cooking breakfast, in between a few emails and posting on the blog here

9-ish get a phone call from our customs broker that he can meet me at 11 to get our latest shipment.

9-10 awaken/re-awaken/drag Sonia out of bed get kids dressed, snacks and school work packed rush out the door move carseats to the truck.

Yes. I took the kids with me to get our shipment of pins. And the customs broker was a little taken aback, he rolled with it. The ladies at the freight holding company were less amused. OK. They weren't amused at all.

I even had JM on my back so he wasn't screaming the entire time we were there and breaking everything and throwing himself down in a fit. They don't know how good they had it. They did have a dish of candy at eye level which wasn't broken or even touched and a christmas tree with presents which were left unwrapped. I'd say it was a sucess. Those ladies had NO idea and I had no idea we were going to be let into the nice office half of the building. Usually the freight delivery/release window is inside the warehouse, so I wasn't worried that my kids would be able to break anything... run over by a forklift.. yes.. possibly..but unwrap christmas presents or re-decorate a tree weren't on my radar when I pulled into the driveway.. of a warehouse!

10-11:30 driving to Mexico (ok, Otay Mesa but from which if you turn right instead of left, you're crossing the boarder. "Look Kids- see those 2 flags right there- that's Mexico")

11:30-12:30 paperwork done, filed, pallet of pins (yes, that was pallet) loaded into the truck between the kids

12:30-1:30 stop at the truck stop there for potty break and the kids are hungry to a 20 minute wait for chicken nuggets at the fast food restaurant (they were awful, even by fast food standards)

1:30-3:00 on the road again, promised the kids we'd do something fun if they were good at customs and since they didn't distroy the place, only were antsy and touched the glass door... oh, yeah.. and Sonia decorated their sign in clip board. :-/ it will be the only warehouse office clipboard sign in sheet with flowers and doodles on it, I bet.

3:00 -5:00 LEGOLAND with truck full of diaper pins

5:00-6:15 drive home (have I mentioned traffic here?!)

6:30 throwing together dinner

7:00 ish the kids find Rudolph on TV, cleaning up dishes, realized the dishwasher got the dishes less clean than the puppy licking them, leave the dishes in the sink and re-run the dishwasher with the dishes that were in there. Handwash a few when the kids ask for drinks.

9:00-ish past their bedtime, finally. TV is off, but Rudolph was still on (and I sure don't remember the Rudolph that was on then)

10-12 empty/fill dishwasher, do a website update with the pins, curse the 'inventory control' feature that oversells everything, but sends you an email that you are out of something it just sold.. return email, pack orders

12:30 to bed

4:45 Toddler thinks it's 6AM, puppy agrees... convince them otherwise

6-ish and it starts again. Today, instead of driving to pick up 1000 lbs of pins, I'll be unpacking 1000 lbs of pins, taking JM to a hearing test and having company for dinner and having someone come this afternoon to help get the biz accounting in order since I am math and accounting challenged... And sometime in there.. MAYBE cleaning the house... preferably before anyone walks in, but especially before dinner.

Oh Christmas Tree

We put up our "tree" yesterday. We spent last Christmas month away and the year before the kids' didn't remember having a tree at our house.. so.. it was a brand new experience for them. And they thought it was great


It took me the better part of the AM to find the tree/lights/ornaments which were located in the nether-parts of closets and top shelves in the garage.. but nonetheless.. we still have our pre-kid assortment of fragile and breakable ornaments, nativity sets and decorations. Which went back in the box, but not until after 3 glass ornament balls were "bounced" on the tile floor.


But now, our pathetic 3 foot fake tree is up, precariously sitting on a table it has nearly taken a tumble off of several times and JM had undecorated the bottom branches at every chance he gets.


But.. Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

Still working on that Christmas picture. Here is our diamond in the rough version- the girls' hair hadn't seen a hairbrush in 7 hours and they were wearing their play clothes. but.. well.. this is how we really look when we aren't putting on Christmas picture airs..
(and blurry!! I have to find the camera manual and see if I did something to the auto focus feature..it focused on the tree just fine, but that was supposed to be the background, unfocused so you can't see that it's as pathetic and artificial as it can be. At least it's not an artificial cactus or palm tree, I guess):

75 and sunny yesterday

I TRIED taking a picture of the kids so send to family and it was a disaster.. so I will try again later. Maybe later today.. The few that looked ok-enough as far as kids not moving, pushing, frowning, etc.. were blurry. BLURRY. not bad at the 2x3 inch resolution here, but as soon as you try to develop them.. much less a 8x10 size.. *sigh* so much for auto focus.

We even went to Sears to do the "real" pictures but, again.. that was a greater disaster. I had never before not ordered at least a few pictures... and maybe I'll look back and say 'I should have gotten a few' but I doubt it. I actually think DMV could have taken a more flattering picture.

And looking at pictures, I realized my youngest needed a haircut.. badly. He was sporting the Chris Farley look.. so.. I took the clippers and put them to good use. I *thought* I was getting better at giving the males in the house haircuts, but between his new do and the haircut I gave Larry this week, I'm realizing I probably need to do 300 more before I can say I'm good at it. So.. until Larry's hair grow back, you won't see a picture of him.

So.. photographic evidence of the week- Ballet lessons and the JM haircut.

Because every girl wants to be a ballerina

My 5 year old has been persistent in her requests for ballet lessons. VERY persistent so finally I signed her up for 1 month of lessons at the YMCA.

And the "appropriate attire" she is supposed to wear is a solid color leotard, tights and ballet shoes.

So today we unveiled the leotard she is supposed to wear. And it was met with this comment:
"mom, that looks like what you put on a baby over their diaper! That's not a ballerina dress!!"

yup. she's right.

Wish I knew it was only the frilly tu-tu she wanted, not the actual lessons.

Corningware/Glassware:0 Tile Floor/counter: 12

Puppy Day 4

I'm finding it hysterical to watch JM bothered by someone smaller than him and about as much as a pest as he can be.

Example- JM has a "thing" for balls- he loves em and often has one in his hand.
Puppy also has a "thing" for balls so when JM drops his ball and it bounces, puppy chases it around until it's somewhere neither of them can reach.

Same for JM's blanket- the puppy loves to grab it and give a tug and run off with it.
MUCH like the way JM grabs hold of Kayla's blanket and runs off with it.

I'm probably worst mom of the year for finding that amusing, huh?

And last night puppy slept though the night clean and dry. (hurray! wish the kids slept through the night...)

I went shopping for a potty chair for JM last night and didn't find one I thought would withstand the destructive and mess-making abilities of the tribe here.. but I'm thinking of potty training the toddler as soon as the puppy is done. Seriously, tho- the puppy is easier- I can't put JM in a crate when we leave the house.

yeah, yeah.. worst mom of the year for that crossing my mind..

Day 3 with a puppy

And Sonia and Joey have claimed ownership of her and are thrilled with her but bicker all the time over her. I'm threating to give her away if she contines to add strive to family relationships.

She's gone farily ok on the potty training thing- better than the kids on day 3, at least- yesterday there was only 1 accident.

HOWEVER she has brought to my attention a mouse in the house. She just flushed it out from under the couch and it's under the stove.

ARGH!!!!

And she's still whining at the couch, so either
a. she doesn't realize it's gone or
b. there's another one there

I'll be refilling the mouse traps today.

(and aren't you thrilled I chose to share this with ya? I have nothing more exciting to write about)

PS. it was 67 degrees and sunny yesterday and I heard "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas" on the radio daily since Thanksgiving. I'm thining they either dream big here or the DJs have a sense of humor.

and one more makes..........

12 little feet running around the house

Introducing baby Belle our new beagle pup

Sorry Folks, no pregnancy test. I was waiting til she had a name other than "cutie" and "sweetie" (or muttered "stupid dog" after peeing inside..) before we officially announced her arrival..

And Mom and Dad.. I KNOW, I KNOW.. yes.. we ARE crazy. That what makes us so much fun and unpredictable. And we were due to add another creature to our life if we kept with the new addition every 21-23 months tradition.. we're right on time. And it seems to be doing a decent job at keeping baby fever away for now.

68 degrees and Sunny again

I guess they weren't kidding about the weather.

And.....

stay tuned for an important announcement about our growing family

:-o

Update on those teeth

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

I'll be trying to cook a turkey in a few hours and I'm not entirely sure why other than the fact that it's tradition and it was .37/lb and well.. that fits our grocery budget.

We're having Larry's high school friend and wife and someone they're bringing with them, so I get to play hostess. I guess it's less pathetic than our first extended-family-free thanksgiving when we were trying to cook the (bleep) turkey at 7pm.. yeah.. ask me about the first time we (that would be Larry) tired to burn our house down.. I mean deep-fry a turkey..

AND just incase any of you have a hankering to travel.. It was ...

69 degrees and sunny today.

THIS I can get used to. I might even get used to the traffic to keep the weather.

(not so subliminal message- we love family and friends, so you might want to check the weather out here sometime this winter. Or next. or whenever you find a steal of a deal for airline tickets)

Wordless wednesday

I am NOT going to smile and you can't make me!

(ah, but I CAN take the picture and put it where your grandparents can see it)

Thankful Tuesday

Taking a cue from my friend, here are 10 things I am thankful for:

1. A husband who works hard to provide for us

2. Kids. After trying to have them for so long, I am especially thankful for having any, much less the 4 that keep me running

3. Living in the best country on earth (no offense to other free countries)

4. The men and women of the military who serve hard to make this the best country on earth, even during the holidays and the families who support them.

5. That my husband will be here for the holidays and for a church that if he wasn't here, would welcome me for the holidays.

6. For food and shelter

7. For old friends and new ones

8. For the internet allowing me to stay in contact with both

9. For parents willing to get on a plane and visit

10. For fantastic weather all year long
(visitors welcomed all year long ;-)

Babywearing love

I KNOW I don't need ANOTHER carrier, but ohh-- look-

http://www.alongfortheride.biz/Win-a-Free-Organic-Embroidered-Ergo-Baby-Carrier-s/49.htm

just in time for Christmas!

Youth squandered

I wish there were do-overs in life.

Honestly- if only I had the energy my kids have for 1 hour a day, I think I'd be thrilled.

And I wonder-

God, why did you make things this way? Why do you give those with the very least to accomplish daily the most energy? Why did I waste all those years of my life?

So.. today.. my energy filled kids:

• pushed a stool to the stove, climbed up and started stiring the water that was about to boil on my gas stove in the time it took me to empty my bladder. I was running and pulling up my pants the second I heard the stool being pushed rather than taking the time to wipe or even finish going..
• and in the time it took to change the above underwear and pants:
• launched their stuffed animals from the second floor to see which fell slowest
• found several bugs to bring into the house as pets
• spilled not 1, not 2 but 3 cups of milk today
• ran like lunatics through the grocery store trying to not step on cracks in the grocery store tile floor while playing chase and very nearly knocked over the 5 foot tall wine display (we were at the grocery store due to premature milk shortage due to the above mentioned spills and due to growth spurt premature running out of bread for store-bought-bread peanut butter and fluff sandwiches which my daughter eats at least 2 a day in addition to 2 other meals.)
• rode their bikes
• rode their bikes into each other and needed ice packs
• several times
• scattered 1000 legos/duplo blocks into every corner of the house
• scattered a deck of cards onto nearly most of the back yard
• fought over who was next to who at every meal
• fought over who had which piece of (mismatched) silverware at each meal
• played chase
• played hide and seek
• went to a birthday party where they:
• climbed up a brick wall to play in a water fountain
• not once but several times
• and the water was about 1/2 bleach to keep the mold at bay
• ate 2 parts icing to 1 part cake leading to the above grocerystore behaviour on the way home
• finally passed out at 9:30 leaving their mom's ears ringing from the silence and wondering if it's too early for her to go to sleep...?

Facebook

so the older I get and the further from my childhood.. the more people I sit back and wonder..

"whatever happened to so and so? did they get married? announce they were gay? have kids? divorce? divorce again? end up in jail? move away from 'our' tiny corner of the world?

And I'll be.. there they are on facebook!

Looking about 10 (15, 20?!) years older than I remember and causing me to think "sheesh.. do *I* look that old?! I can't possibly!!"

And then I look in the mirror and add wrinkle cream to my list of what I should try to remember to buy when I go to the store and pluck a pesky grey hair.. (from my chin!)

If you're not on facebook, you can't possibly be reading a blog or have internet and electricity.. because evey my parents have facebook accounts. I'm not sure they know how to use them, but they have them...

I haven't fully figured out facebook- there are 100's of people I see there and wonder about but stop short of the "add to friends" button.. I mean, really, we were more aquaintances 20 years ago- I think it's a stretch to call ourselves friends now.. right?

Or not.. that might be how my brother has like 1000 friends on facebook and I have a few dozen. it's not the quantity, it's the quality, right?

Best book I've read in a long time

"Rule number two"


by Heidi Squier Kraft

http://www.rulenumbertwo.com/

I stayed up wayy past my bedtime to finish it. It was that good.

(thanks, dad for the book. Even Larry read it!-- insert the cartoon jaw drop sound here--)

Sometime when it's that good

It shows on your face

And sometimes it isn't..

Every public restroom here has a similar sign posted...

Viva la southern California

yes..I'll miss it when we move somewhere else.. well.. some of it.. or at least I'll wax nostalgically about it and drive people around me nuts..

like I'm nostalgically remembering fall in New England.. totally forgetting the joy of scraping windshields EVERY morning before work at 30-something degrees and sunset at 4:20.. but the crisp air, the wool sweaters, the smell of the woodstove.. ahh nostalgia.. from my 80-something degree residence still wearing shorts and t-shirts wondering when and even if it gets cold here. ever. for longer than a few hours.

It cracks me up when I see kids bundled in parkas like it's 15 degrees outside when it's really about 60.. but then again.. the locals think I'm weird for wistfully dreaming of picking apples and raking leaves..

come to think of it, I never really liked raking leaves. Jumping in them as kids was fun, but the rest.. ah.. not so much..

that's probably why we didn't rake them when we owned our house.. we did the redneck-raking method of mulching them with the mower and letting nature take it's course on the lawn... (uh, weeds we cut with the mower and called lawn) with 1 or more non-running cars and non-running riding lawnmowers parked on it..

(seriously)

Can't say I miss that... guess nostalgia can only take you so far..

Less than a month

Until the announcement as to our future location

And this was timely -click to the right on the listen button or better yet- subscribe to the podcasts :-)

I have more peace with the move, no matter where we land..

Happiness is

a big jar or peanut butter and a spoon to eat it with

Adventures in raising twins

Because books aren't written on this and I don't have time to read them even if they were..

This came as a surprize to me-

Loose teeth

(yes- plural- teeth)

ALREADY!

Both Sonia and Joey have a loose tooth, Sonia noticed hers about 2 days before Joey did, but they're about equally wiggly.

HOW does that happen? I know of no other 5 1/2 year old to compare this with, but is 5 1/2 the magic age this happens? 5 years 6 months and 2 weeks and 5 days to be exact..

(sob.. my babies are growing up)

A friend posted this and it struck a chord

What is a MILITARY Wife?
They may look different and each is wonderfully unique, but this what they have in common.
They have THIS IN COMMON:

Lots of moving---
Moving.
Moving.
Moving far from home.
Moving two cars, three kids and one dog----all riding with HER of course.
Moving sofas to basements because they won't go in THIS house.
Moving curtains that won't fit.
Moving jobs and certifications and professional development hours.
Moving away from friends,
Moving toward new friends.
Moving her most important luggage; her trunkful of memories.

Often waiting-
Waiting,
waiting,
waiting for housing;
waiting for orders;
waiting for deployment;
waiting for reunion;
waiting for phones calls;
Waiting for the new curtains to arrive;
waiting for him to come home for dinner----AGAIN!

They call her 'military dependent', but she knows better.
She can balance a checkbook.
Handle the yard work.
Fix a noisy toilet.
She is intimately familiar with drywall, anchors, and toggle bolts.
She can file the taxes, sell a house, buy a car, or set up a move, -- all with ONE Power of Attorney.
She welcomes neighbors that don't welcome her.
Reinvents her career with every PCS;
locates a house in the desert, the arctic, or the deep south and learns to call them all 'home'.
She MAKES them all home.
She is fiercely IN-dependent.

Military Wives are somewhat hasty.
They leap into decorating, leadership, volunteering, career alternatives, churches and friendships.
They don't have 15 years to get to know people.
Their roots are short but flexible.
They plant annuals for themselves and Perennials for those who come after them.

Military Wives quickly learn to value each other.
They connect over coffee, rely on the spouse-network and accept offers of friendship and favors and record addresses in pencil.
Military Wives have a common bond.
The Military Wife has a husband unlike other husbands his commitment is unique.
He doesn't have a job, he has a 'mission' he can't just decide to quit he's on-call for his country 24/7 but for you, he's the most unreliable guy in town!

His language is foreign:
TDY
PCS
OPR
ACC
BDU

And so, a Military Wife is a translator for her family and his.
She is the long-distance link to keep them informed, the glue that holds them together.

Military Wife has her moments----She wants to wring his neck, dye his uniform pink, and refuse to move to Siberia.

But she pulls herself together.
Give her a few days, a travel brochure, a long hot bath, a pledge to the flag, and a wedding picture.
And she goes.
She packs.
She moves.
She follows.

Why?
What for?
How come?
You may think it is because she has lost her mind.
But actually it is because she has lost her heart.
It was stolen from her by a man...Who puts duty first.
Who longs to deploy.
Who salutes the flag.
And whose boots in the doorway remind her that as long as he is her Military husband,
She will remain his Military wife.

Tuesday's Troublesome Trials

(That's not food)

At the suggestion of my publicist-I add to clarify-
This was not the result of cloth diaper failure. This was a disposible diaper failure. I needed to do laundry and we'd been using alot of diapers with this stomach bug.. So.. HAD I been using cloth, this catastrophie could have been avoided.
Cept for the catastrophie where he somehow pulled the velcro tabs off his pocket diaper and managed to get poop filled diaper to the foot of his one-piece footed PJ's later that night. Contained, yes. Messy- yes.
Remind me of this when I start thinking I want to get the kids a dog..

speechless Sunday

Thank you, opponents of gay marrage

For making our home TV free until the election is over.

Yes- OPPonents of it. The side I'm supposed to support.

I don't know what moron you have on your TV marketing campaign, but when a little girl goes to her mom on tv and says "mom, guess what I learned today in school- a prince can marry a prince and I can marry a princess" (my kids tuned right in- mention of school, a little girl with a book with a picture on it.. )

And it cuts to an old guy saying "think, it can't happen, well it can..."

DUH!!! MORON!! YOU, yes YOU MADE IT HAPPEN!!
YOU!!! exposed my kids to that while we were watching discovery channel. and I've heard about it every day since.

Sorry. The election is bringing out the best in me. And I'm fire breathing mad about this. I wrote to them, but they were only interested in campaign donations. So I write it here.

Don't believe me- here it is:

HOT HOT HOT

As in Africa Hot- THAT's the temperature inland got today- HOT, dry, windy and HOT.

And I forgot to check the weather and we went to the Wild animal park today.

The geography/weather here is just so different than what I'd experienced before- This AM I woke up COLD- fleece jacket cold and debated turning on the heat. So.. I'm thinking.. today's a good day to go- I'm finally only coughing up 1 lung with any exertion and the kids sound less like they have tuberculosis.

Outside was cool- get in the car and as we get there it gets warmer. I expected it to be about 10 degrees warmer than it is at home. And I expected home to be in the low 70's.

But no. Santa Anna was here today and she blows hot air freshly dried from the desert at gusts up to 60 mph. And I want to know why they'd name hot wind that sucks the life/wind out of you and promotes wild fires after a saint? Really. They should have named them Satan Aires or something more appropriate.

Diddn't I feel dumb as we get there, open the car door and feel the hair dryer on the hot pavement. Felt dumber as I was cleaning up car sick boy in 104 degree heat. I am grateful he waited until we got out of the car before launching breakfast. I had just buckled him into the front seat of the stroller and he started crying - no unusual for him to protest being restrained from darting in front of moving cars in parking lots... but then the fountain erupted.

I really look forward to the day none of the kids get carsick. ever.

And I'm thinking.. 'hey, it's October- pumpin patches, fall.. isn't it supposed to get cooler or something?!" Hmm.. they must not have gotten the memo.

Yes, he sprayed me with water as I took his picture. Charming, huh?

They got soaked on these animals with water spraying out of them- designed so that visitors don't get heatstroke, I think. The kids and their clothes dried in less than an hour. I kid you not -it was that hot and arid.

And of course, the highlight of the day was the animals you could pet- here it was deer-

Kayla went and hugged as many of them as she could-

Once the kids had pet all the awake ones, Sonia decided to sit and wait for the sleeping ones to wake up and play with her. For a kid that hates sitting still, she waited pretty patiently a pretty long time.

And JM was on my back - why he's not in the pictures chasing the deer. He was tired and being the lazy mom I am, I thought- hmm... one less kid to get really dirty and have to de-contaminate.. yeah, he can stay there. He was there a bit late in the day as we were checking out the non-stroller friendly exhibits- they had some really neat walk through bird houses we were checking out sans stroller.

would I go back?

maybe. Does H*ll freeze or at least cool off?

I smell smoke again

Have I mentioned I think a good snow storm would be FANTASTIC right about now?

At night time it's hard to SEE where the smoke is. I don't see glowing flames, so I assume we're fine.

And- I visited the trailer when we were allowed back to the area Thursday. I was impressed- after that huge fire that started right there-they did a fantastic job keeping that lot OFF fire. They had a firebreak around the storage lot and it looks like they even bulldozed it bigger at the time. everywhere else there looks like a moonscape since it's all burned out and black with white patches (I'm guessing the salt from the sea water dropped, but what do I know?)

When we saw where the fire started and heard the news reports of an explosion and saw the footage of everywhere around it, we figured the place was a gonner and the explosion one of the gas tanks going up in flames. I am ever so relieved. There was ash on and even IN it (but it's a redneck trailer- there are ventilation holes that weren't originally there when the trailer was produced)

Anyway... I don't think the air quality is helping the respiratory illness situation much. I was ignoring the coughs initially thinking it was from the air.. I was wrong. :-/

4 hours

2 Xrays and this is what we came home with:
As I suspected, pneumonia has taken up residence here.

And we're going back Monday with the last sick kids.

The trials in homeschooling

I had slacked off this week when everyone had a fever and we all felt pretty crummy in addition to the fun of the wildfires (which today I don't see or smell. I read that the Pendleton/Juliett one is 75% contained. )

So, today I realize that we really need to plow ahead and Joey is now my "easy" child- task driven- tell him this is what we do, you can play after and he does it.

Sonia...
ah, not so much. She is a candidate for Ritalin. In EVERYTHING not just school. Takes this child an hour to eat a snack because she starts playing around, 'forgetting' what she's supposed to be doing.. Same for meals, getting dressed.. and ESPECIALLY for school work. Joey's at 63 in writing to 100, Sonia's at 2. I get back to the table from wiping a rear end in the bathroom and she has her math book on her head. And she's drawn a picture of a flag.

I pour a drink and she's making spit bubbles...

Still here

The backyard's back on fire again and I am SOOOO done with this.

And I'll say this- it has brought a new appreciation for fear for Armageddon.

This sucks santa ana winds.

We're not going anywhere because:

a. traffic is a nightmare- they closed the highway and the only way we can get out of our neighborhood means crossing one of the secondary main roads people are now on and there was a wreck so no one on that road is going anywhere

b. where am I going to go? I've re-thought the need to get milk and we'll do without it for now. I needed to get some of our stuff from the trailer for the business, but that was at the first fire location.. we can't get there and I don't think there exists anymore.

c. Who needs to go anywhere? I have quite an airshow in the backyard again. (Thank you Canada for lending us those really cool yellow/red planes. )

d. it stinks outside. Burns your eyes and nose kind of stink.

6:25

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

~Jesus




It's still wildfire season and I'm ready for snow.

I should have written a book earlier in my life

When I thought I had the answers.

To anything.. life, finances, parenting...

Especially a book on parenting. Boy did I have all the answers when I wasn't a parent. I even thought I had a clue when the twins were young...

But NOW.. ah, my friends, NOW I don't have the answers. And I have noticed some popular parenting advice books are written by people with 2 kids or less, well spaced out (*cough* DobsonSpockDr Phil*cough*). The people with more than 2 kids are too busy trying to figure out where they went wrong to advise others on how to do it. (ok, yes, a sweeping generalization that I'm sure anyone reading my blog is the exception to this generalization)

Today, much like the last time I tried... I went to the comissary and failed miserably. It's a necessary evil. We need to eat and I plan my life to avoid being any where near there the 3 days after payday (which is Wednesday this week) And the kids are sick and I used the last 3 doses of tylenol and pediacare last night so it was either there or walmart and well.. the commisary prices are better and it's closer.

Back when I had 2 kids, I could put 2 in a cart (especially those cool ones with car steering wheels, etc...) and shop with few major issues. They were clean, fed, napped and happy.

Add 2 more to the mix and it takes me 2 hours to leave the house so.. while they were all clean, fed and napped when I start the leaving process, by the time we get there they're not.

Today. At 9, I say to the kids "we need to go to the store before lunch, please finish breakfast (to the one that slept in) and get dressed. At 9:15, 9:30,9:35,10:00; 10:14; 10:33; 10:55; 11:04 this is repeated wtih handing them clothes, shoes, changing diapers, washing hands and faces, sweeping what seems to be enough food crumbs to feed a large dog...

Find the hairbrush, get the girls' hair brushed and suddenly, their shoes (which I had handed them 5 mintues ago) have disappeared. The baby's lost a shoe I will often find floating in the toilet, and is filthy after climbing onto the counter and helping himself to muffins with chocolate chips in it.. and his diaper is wet.

So.. we leave the house finally, looking worse for the wear.

I have a list with 15 things I need, 3 of which are tylenol, vapor rub, and tissues. Plus soup, juice, milk, bananas and cereal.

I got as far as the tylenol isle when the screaming/fighting fit begins between the 2 carriage occupants. There are 2 steering wheels, but JM touches the one in front of Kayla which sends her into a screaching fit while Joey/Sonia whine that they want a turn in the cart, nevermind that 5 year olds are too old to be in there....

Ah.. I toss the wrong boxes into the cart and race down the isle.. get to the tissues isle and it's crowded. The screaching fits between the 2 littles have stopped, but the 2 olders insist on getting in the way of everyone by holding onto the cart at full-arm's reach away on each side of the cart- leading to angry shoppers telling us we're in the way and me telling them to move behind the cart (they stand in the front of it, get their feet run into because they stop short/I don't see them and start accusing me LOUDLY of hurting them and crying..) great.

So.. round the bend... and toss a bag of chips into the cart (not on the list, but... well.. if I was in the chocolate isle, I would have grabbed that)

And the screaching fits begin again.. JM wants to be held and push the cart, it's too big for him and he has a fit... While I'm trying to get him to stop screaming, Sonia scales the cart to get in and hurts herself, thus also crying and Kayla's crying because she doens't want to sit next to Sonia.. Joey meanwhile is standing in the middle of the isle blocking traffic and chewing on his shirt.

This is the point when the young moms with their sleeping 6 month old in perfectly matched and clean outfits in a car seat perched perfectly on the cart, give me the look- you know the one- the one that says "oh, that mother is doing something wrong- that would never happen to me"

yeah.. we'll see... my money's on you wishing you could remember the secret to perfect kids when you have a few more..

I also bet you'll have a problem with remembering their names when you go to yell at them. oh, right- you won't yell at them..

and I won't be peeing my pants from laughing so hard... (another gift of motherhood)

But I'll have a chance to get it right again before wednesday. We left without getting the milk or sandwich fixings we needed- we prematurely ended the mission before we reached the last 4 isles of the store.

Better luck next time. And next time, I'm reaching for the chocolate instead of the chips- definately my food of choice in these situations.. or any situation

A book about eating chocolate!! THAT one I still could write.

Introducing George the Sea Lion and his human side kick

The zoo was fun. (as if you had a doubt that it would be) And HUGE! We didn't see everything yet.

Towards the end of the day, we we to see the animal show and they needed a volunteer. Sonia and Kayla raised their hands.. Kayla was picked (from hundreds... or maybe a few dozen, lol)

We had no idea what she was volunteering for- but she got to give the sea lion a back rub, a hug and feed it fish and it gave her a kiss on a cheek. She was celebrity there at the park until we left- and she ate it all up. People would say, oh, isn't that Kayla? (the sea lion trainer asked her name) and she'd start telling them she saw the sea lion...etc... and the closer she got to them, the more they could smell the fish aroma on her.. lol..

Of course shortly before that we'd been in the petting corral, so they were pretty gross and smelly already, and Kayla somehow managed to sit in a patch of wet dirt, so her pants were filthy and wet.. thus why for the umpteeth outing the second half of the day picture show her in different shorts than the first half.. Every other time, I'd been putting her in her toddler brothers' change of clothes (they're the same size, if you can believe it) But that morning, my brain was awake enough to say 'pack HER a pair, too'. And JM was sticky from raisins and juice and was pasted with goat fur and dirt..
Ahh glad I listened to that voice.. we needed ALL changes of clothes yesterday..

Hurray for no fire!

The fire appears to be out from here. The sky wasn't glowing when we got up at 5:30. So, that was a good sign.

So... today we're going to the zoo. And I'll leave the suitcases at home.

Edit:
I thought it was just the firebreaks that make it go out, since the planes we saw dropping water stopped at sunset. I didn't see all the firefighters on the ground, so THANK you to them.

That's one heck of a bon fire

That's the view from our backyard

It could be an answer to prayer- I DO want to move from here, I should have prayed more specifically about the details, I guess. At least moving will be easy...

I'll post if we evacuate. They say that the fire is a mile from structues.. I'm not entirely convinced. I could see our neighborhood about 100 yards from the fire in the helecopter news footage.