What are little girls made of?

Frogs and snails and puppy dog tails..........

(right? itsn't that what the song says?)

(Still to come the pictures of the frogs and lizards inhabiting the backyard. No puppies. Yet)

The day's berry bounty
THIS is why we needed a babysitter this friday. So my husband could dress in a grass skirt and sing "anchors aweigh" and the Marine song (the one that goes "from the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Triploi) Hoo Rah

And I'm not sure, but I think this is also "marine layer." The constant beige haze here I call "smog" but I'm thining this stuff is the marine layer with smog. And the reason I keep wishing for rain is

• I won't have to keep watering the lawn
• it's supposed to clear up the smog and I'd love to see the mountains in the distance. The mountains are what I miss the most from SWVA and there are some here, you just can't see em much. You can sorta make them out in the distance if you look really hard.

But because of all this wishing for rain.. I have a cloud hanging over my head. Seriously. We went to buy a couch, bed for Joey and at the furniture place, the credit card was denied. (embarrassing, and now for the world to see) Call them and ask and they say my account has been compromised. Here in CA there is rampant credit card fraud and identity theft (hurray, another reason I'm so excited to be here) and I used my credit card somewhere they think it was swiped with a thing that transferrs the magnetic strip to another card for the criminals to use.

I don't know how they know that, since all charges on my account were mine, but of course it'd been a day since I'd used it and they denied it for me and even denied what I was trying to buy, even though I was there telling them I was the one needing furniture, we'd just moved and of course there's going to be an uncharisterically high amount of charges, we JUST MOVED, and it has $200 in cleaning supplied and 8 trips to the grocery store.

So.. after that embarrassing moment, you'd think we could leave, right?

Well, we could have if I didn't lock the keys in the truck.

(those keys and I have a love-hate relationship. I am forever loosing them and now they got back at me by locking me out, lol) Larry was driving, got out and for some reason left the keys in it because I was still in it getting the kids out. (he usually takes them with him if we're all getting out)

Because he lost his keys, he was using mine (uh huh, love that irony) and so I didn't have the key in my purse so, I pushed the button on the door to lock the truck and then closed the door. Larry was already out of earshot by this time- it takes me that long to get kids out of the truck. We were in an area I wasn't really sure about leaving the truck unlocked with our GPS in it. (and we were about 5 miles from Mexico)

Course, I didn't realize we didn't have the keys until the kids were past ready to leave and the store was past closed. Just another day in our lives.

AAA was called again. And they redeemed themselves. The guy was there in 10 minutes and took 2 minutes to unlock the car. We have had AAA for 9 years and used it 1 time before the past 6 weeks. In 6 weeks, we've used their services 2 times. I hope this isn't going to become a trend.

Nevermind

I'm thinking a little more clearly. I must have been delusional thinking of going back to work. After paying her, the gas to commute and everything else.. I don't know what I was thinking. I certainly wasn't doing the math.

So.. back work for me. The REAL work. The stuff I don't get paid for.

What would you do for a housekeeper/nanny?

Looking for a show of hands-

Would you go back to work 2 days a week to afford one?

Spanish Speaking only 50 year old mother of 5
Live in, full time
Cheaper than full time day care and she'll cook, clean, care for the kids and do laundry.
Full time. (did I mention that? oh all the help she could be...)

I really wasn't looking for one. We really can't afford it. really. We're still not sure how we're going to afford living here without resorting to selling our plasma or growing medicinal plants (legal with a prescription in CA, wink wink) to sell from the back yard.
And as much as I've been kidding for 4 years that we needed to hire a South American immigrant, I wasn't seriously thinking it would ever happen.

BUUUTTTT...

I was looking in a last minute desperate effort to find a baby sitter for Friday night's mandatory "hail and farewell" function and I was online looking for a babysitter and found the ad from the nanny/housekeeper's curent employer whose kids are starting preschool fulltime and she's looking for new employment for her. (this is California)

Comment away let me know what you think :-)

While I go research how much $ it will take to get my California NP license... lol.

Oh, and if you know if any decent babysitters in the southern CA area available this friday evening, please pass that information along, too.

oh I wish it would rain

Because I have ecclectic tastes in music, THIS is the song I've had stuck in my head for a week now:

A day at the beach

For the Family Practice Picnic.

And since it is the Navy, it was not optional for us to go... so we went.



It was HOT. Apparently God was not informed that it is supposed to be 68 degrees and sunny all the time. It was over 90 at the beach. And the way the land is here, as soon as you go inland, it gets HOT HOT HOT. So.. we went inland 20 miles and it was 117 degrees. (or so said the car thermometer)


And I now understand why people here surf. There are serious waves here. I'm not interested in it at all, but it sure looks cool. (sorry picture didn't come out, but I'm sure we'll be back at the beach later to get others)



And there is this stuff here called "marine layer"

THAT is essentially thick dense fog/cloud that comes in from the water. It is seriously eerie. Literally like driving in a cloud. But without the rain. I now understand that song "oh I wish it would rain" It's been in my head for a week now :-)

AND (this is a geography lesson) there are mountains here that look like these rocks are about to roll down the hill. BIG ones. I'm thinking a little earthquake and those things'll be rolling.

This was from a little bit inland (the 117 degree day, soo, but NO way I was rolling down a window to take a picture)

More Adventures in Moving

A quick flash back to that car seat:





And pictures of the new house: (sorry they are out of focus. User error- I turned off the auto focus and then forgot to turn it on OR manually focus.. )





The upstairs loft (den area):



Backyard:



View from the upstairs master balcony:

That is a nature preserve and beyond that is Pendleton- you can hear the bombs going off daily. Sorta sounds like thunder in the distance.. cept it doesn't rain here. The backyard is only green thanks to the innovation called automatic sprinkler systems.

The thing that looks like a dirt road is a fire break. The smaller things are trails.



Kitchen:



Room next to the kitchen, we'll be using it as a family room :



Dining room /living room area: (view from/what you walk into from the front door) :



Our stuff arriving- in those wooden crates on 3 trucks :


What they did as their "Military unpacking" and actually, this picture was taken after I'd already started cleaning it up in the heat of the moment:
The second room they did this in- note the overturned wagon of blocks-

Took them less than 12 minutes to make that much of a mess and about 2 milliseconds after seeing that for me to absolutely FLIP out on them. And they called their supervisor, put me on the phone with him, who told me they were doing what they were supposed to do as part of a "military unpack" and told I was being unreasonable.

UNREASONABLE? !!!!????!!!!
I'LL SHOW YOU UNREASONABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After the week I'd had starting with the vomit/flat tire car trip, followed by a week of record heat living in a hotel, the day before's plane adventures, getting up at the crack of dawn to meet them in the morning, but then waiting 5 hours for them to show up, trying to entertain the kids in an empty house...... I was MORE that ready to be unreasonable. In fact, I'd have flung a bucket of vomit at them if I didn't think it'd make more of a mess...

It was after 10 pm pacific time (think 1 am east cost) and the kids were tired and whiny and they couldn't find the hardware to put our furniture together, much less put the beds or crib together. I was feeling less than patient or understanding and when they started DUMPING boxes when I asked them to put the beds together. They tell me they can't find the hardware, nothing they can do. I say "THEN FIND the hardware" and so the dumping boxes was their way of finding it. Would you believe the hardware was taped to the furniture it belonged to? ARGH!!!!!!

Oh, and Larry's guns didn't arrive with the rest of our stuff and they couldn't explain why.

The supervisor did come the next AM (to deliver the guns which were found) as did the military inspector who was called the next morning. After that rendezvous, the moving company sent out 2 people who did clean it up (some) and another guy was sent to put our furniture together. Oh, and the supervisor changed his tune from "well, that is what military unpacking is, we just put it on the floor and you clean it up" to "I'm sorry, that isn't what should have happened"

Humph. I win.

And since they also got the carpets BLACK, I am getting them re-cleaned and they will be paying the bill.
I win again.

Ok. I admit it. We are "those people"

The ones you see in public and wonder about.

THOSE people. Close kin to "some people"

The ones with a bunch of kids and an an aura that is a mix of circus excitement and chaos?

That would be us.

And a glimpse into our life flying the sunny skies---

The dynamics of getting us and all our stuff to the airport took some innovation- We had to leave our van empty and with the car top carrier inside at our neighbors' house so it could (theoretically) be picked up by the company who is going to ship it. So.. we rented a van, but they didn't have a 15 passenger van available, so we and our stuff did not fit into the minivan to get to the airport. (For the record- it still has not been picked up)


And there enters our parents (who all 4 traveled down to graduation in my parent's minivan) who followed us to the airport loaded with our "stuff" that didn't fit into minivan #1.

So.. there was US (6 of us, one of which was a screaming toddler most of the time, see picture below) and 4 grandparents and 11 checked bags and 2 car seats 2 booster seats, and a stroller, 3 carry on bags, and 3 kid backpacks.

And the baggage checker who in no-way was interested in letting us check that many bags, much less be speedy or kind about it.

And we were assigned 5 different rows.

Now I don't know about you, but I was more than willing to put screaming toddler in the row farthest back with the lady who gave me the dirtiest look when I saw her and told her the window seat next to her was assigned to one of us.

This would be us attempting to check our bags/pack-n-play and booster seats:

So.. the lady giving me the glare was willing to change seats (what a surprise, huh?) and I get JM in there, get his car seat installed and realize 2 things- (maybe 3)

1. Those dang HUGE seat belt buckles end up under his butt if you install it front facing, so of course he's going to yell.
2. Front facing car seats on an airplane give your child the height and leverage to KICK the head of the person with the misfortune to be sitting in front of you.
3. When you give up and decide to hold screaming kicking toddler after 30 minutes of screaming and kicking, you are now STUCK with car seat taking up very valuable real-estate in the very cramped row.

So... I didn't care he was over the weight for rear facing. He was rear-facing after I figured the above 3 things out. Still screaming (until he passed out and fell asleep just as the plane landed), but not kicking the guy's head. (Deepest apologies to all within ear shot of him that entire day)

And there are no direct flights out of Roanoke. At least not to anywhere we'd be going. So... we ended up needed to change planes in Chicago. We landed at Terminal 1, and needed to get to Terminal 2 (well, I forget the exact numbers or letters) and had 40 minutes to do it (about. In theory)

It was about 1/2 mile away. And we were ready for the challenge (we thought) older 2 kids in running shoes, Baby in Kozy on my back, 3 year old in the stroller... Diaper bag on stroller, backpack on Daddy, and car seat attached to rolling suitcase. And we sprinted, found the elevators rather than attempt the escalators (previous experience traveling with kids on an escalator- I WILL fall and it WILL delay us- I am just that co-ordinated). AND we got to the gate with seconds to spare and look up and see...

DELAYED.

We had 15 minutes more. Phew. We can get the kids lunch. I leave Larry with 3 kids, take Joey and find the one McDonalds in that terminal and wait an indeterminate time paying 2x what I think I should for chicken nuggets my kids say they want but may or may not eat...

And I get a call from Larry on my cell phone-

"Hurry up, they changed our gate!!"

"WHAT?!"

And not only did they change our gate. They changed our terminal. 1/2 mile, a people mover and 2 elevators away.

I kid you not.

So.. As I am dragging a now tired-of-running Joey trying not to drop the bag of fast food and drink when someone gets on a plane and rolls one of those luggage cart things in front of me, causing me to slow down..... Just long enough to grab it... toss Joey on it, telling him to hold on tight and sprint back to Larry who is looking none too pleased with the turn of events and after 10 minutes of Kayla whining, Sonia needed to go potty (again) and JM screaming since he'd been needing a nap for a week.

And we became THOSE people:

That is how we went through the airport. Nevermind the sign on it not to put kids on there. WE had a plane we needed to catch and by golly we were going to get there. The baby was on my back, Kayla in stroller, and Larry with luggage thing and kids tucked under the handle with feet on the bottom row. We even went on the people movers like that. And got a few second looks, but no security guards were there to stop us.

And we get to the gate at the 3rd terminal and...
DELAYED. (at least no gate change)

Apparently the Midwest has been having some problems with rain and the particular plane we were supposed to be getting on had been re-routed due to a tornado....

BUT eventually we got on the plane. In the same row this time and only spent 45 minutes parked on the runway waiting to be re-routed due to another tornado or some other inclement weather issue..

We get to CA and THIS is what we looked like waiting for our 2 Chariots to arrive to pick us up after a very long long day: (though it was only 6pm in CA)

Who was that guy?

The one that said "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger?"

I think he must have had a vision of moving cross-country with 4 kids.


And so.. just so that you can experience the past 2 weeks WITH me.. let me back up to give you the full picture: (WARNING- if you are squeamish, look away)





This was kid# 2 to get car sick and vomit:

I know it's probably sick and weird for me to have actually documented it with a camera, but seeing we'd been on the road all of 2 hours before we'd had 2 kids vomit, I knew this was going to be one for the record books.

And no, the picture does NO justice to the aroma of the car at that time.

We got to a tiny town with a tiny gas station and took some creative thinking to try to de-vomit and de-smell the car (the second time) and since it was time #2, we had already exhausted our supplies of plastic grocery bags and rags we keep in the car for just such an occasion

We bought the only paper towels there, pulled up to the outside bathroom (which just to happened to have an outdoor faucet that you'd connect a hose to and proceeded to hose down the car seat and kid.

We asked for a garbage bag and this is what we did:

It still smelled bad.

Really really really bad.

And then we crossed the Tapanzee bridge. (for those familiar with our trip, you know we weren't far before the trouble started

And of course, we were racing to get to VA by Larry's 6pm exit interview appointment, so RACING was the word when we another snag:

Yes. Not 1 but 2 flat tires.

We were traveling around the middle of NOWHERE (and I mean NOWHERE- think Amish country- they don't need tow trucks) PA looking for the next exit with something for lunch and diesel (because we were low- really low) when there was a loud THUD/WHACK/WHACK/WHACK/GRIND/GRUMBLE

We are grateful for our safety after having a flat at 80 mph (or so.. please don't send us a speeding ticket) and called AAA. Now.. the problem when you get a flat outside of your home AA area is they say "oh, we don't go that far" and transfer you to another branch of AAA who says "oh, they transferred you to the wrong area, we don't go that far" repeat.

So.. We unload the car, get the jack and spare while vehicles whizzing at 80 mph past poor Larry's head. It's 90 degrees and HOT HOT HOT in the van, (and on the pavement) even with the windows all as opened as they'd go. We opened the side door away from the road to get some more air, but the kids took that as a sign they cold get out, and we couldn't get them to understand this was not a watch-daddy-and-learn time. Oh, and did I mention the aroma of the 100 degree car?

So- I dug out every fruit snack, juice box and granola bar we had packed and kept passing them around until they had to go potty. (that was us you passed on the side of the road holding our kids over pavement so they could go)

And THEN.. we got oh, MAYBE 20 feet when the spare gave way.

Called AAA again. And we HAVE GPS. We told them we are at mile X on highway Y (and co-incidentally, we landed just infront of a mile marker sign) and they STILL couldn't find us. They must have old maps or something there (ironic, considering they are the ones you go to plan your trips and give you maps, huh?) they said "oh, that highway doesn't have that exit and mile marker on it, you must be in NJ" "oh, no, that was an HOUR ago- I assure you we ARE in PA." "but that road doesn't have that exit, you must be on 81" "I KNOW WHERE I AM! WHAT GOOD IS A ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE SERVICE IF YOU CAN'T FIND THE ROAD I'M ON?????!!!!!!!!!!" it was a good day.

So.. after 1 and 1/2 hours of THAT.. THIS is what we ended up with.

A few hours in the garage.. 2 new tires later and we decided we just needed to do something about the overwhelming aroma of the van.. and THIS is what we came up with:

I will admit, strapping the kid in there with the car seat on the roof briefly crossed my mind in the past, but no, no kid there.

We found a walmart and I took the vomit smelling kid and gave him a head-to-toe bath in their sink. While Larry bought a new car seat and treats for the kids for being relatively patient and good during this entire ordeal.

BUT the story can end on a bright note:

We actually did get there. About midnight. A friend (thanks, Mike) interceded for Larry and got the exit interview changed. And HERE is us at his promotion Ceremony:
Praise God! He graduated!! whoo hoo!

(I have to find the graduation pictures)

And in the next edition:

FLYING (you won't want to miss it, I promise)

We LOVE the children's Museum!!

In Boston.

We took the kids on the Subway. They had a great time!

They were soo funny! Sonia and Joey after we were leaving the museum were begging "please can we ride the subway again???" (uh, yeah, how else are we going to get back to the van?)

We didn't plan our day all that well and we were taking the mbta back at 5pm on Friday evening WITH all the other commuters. Lucky for us, most were pretty kind and we were getting on at a station that many were getting off to transfer to other trains that we were able to get on the same train.

We didn't take the line I normally would have taken in due to a accident on it the day or two previously, but I was grateful that we weren't on that train, because, quite honestly, if things had gone as I had originally planned, we could have been on it.

So- We have now taken them as far east as Boston and the Atlantic ocean this month and later this week we'll be on the Pacific. Ahh. The interesting details of life.

AND just incase that wasn't enought new experiences for the kids, we took them to the Nautilus submarine and museum in Groton when we were down there picking up Larry's uniform (with his new stripe - cheesy grin for him graduating!!) So.. here are the pictures from the past few days...