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.