Christmas songs according to Ross...

We spent the day running errands (mostly shopping for a church dress for me -- by the way, apparently it is sundress season here) and tonight on the way back Ross entertained us with Christmas songs (actually, Ross and Lucy were fussing so Jeremy asked Ross to sing for Lucy). His favorite was Jingle Bell Rock. It went something like this:

"Gingle bell, gingle bell, gingle bell ra....in the doggies ears"

If you need a translation, that would be:

"Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock...in the frosty air"

I laughed so hard I cried!

Happy New Year!

Oh Joy!

I'm sooooo happy. Happy happy happy!!! Do you want to know why? Jeremy is downstairs setting up our new TV. Now, I'm glad to have a new TV, but my joy is over the death of the entertainment center. Does anyone remember the incident shortly after Jeremy left for Iraq where the thing fell over? I hate the entertainment center -- HATE IT!!! It is constantly leaning (though, has been reinforced with plywood to stop it from careening all the way over), one of the doors is ripped off and there are huge chunks missing from the front of it. Add to that the fact that the damage to the base has made it impossible to move, so cleaning behind it is impossible (not to mention impossible to plug/unplug wires), and I am so ready to say goodbye to the thing. Woohoo!

I wonder if we have a baseball bat with which I can smash the thing to smithereens?

Just a few quick pictures from Christmas!

Jeremy's side of the family:

The little ones on Christmas Eve:

My side of the family:

Santa Claus came to visit the kids at Grandma & Grandpa M's:

Hannah excited about her new IPod:

More to come later...

Uggghh...I hate road trips!

Disclaimer: I started this post more than a week ago. And it has been sitting there incomplete because I've just been busy.

Not that I didn't enjoy spending the weekend visiting with Hannah and my family this weekend, but the road trip itself is rather, well, awful. Seriously, yesterday -- the day we drove back home -- was wretched. But before I go into it, let me tell you about the weekend...


I was able to pick Hannah up from school on Friday and we spent the evening just hanging out, which was nice. Saturday, my parents were busy running errands and picking up my sister and her husband from the airport. So, we wandered to Toledo on a mission for Tony Packo's. (For those of you who don't know, Tony Packo's is a Toledo favorite for hot dogs, though I always get the chicken paprikash -- mmmmm!) We also made a few stops to pick up some of our Ohio favorites that we can't get in North Carolina. Saturday evening my mom broke out my dad's Christmas gift a bit early -- a Wii. I'm not normally a video game person, but this was a lot of fun. Bowling has to be my favorite, but just making ours Miis was entertaining enough!

Disclaimer: This is where I actually started typing today. And I'm already fuzzy on the rest of the weekend in Ohio. We did have a lot of fun, though. I'll have to load pictures some other time, because I can't work on the desktop computer (where my pictures are stored) while the kids are awake (way too much stuff out up there for the to rifle through).

The bad part of the weekend was the trip home, which started off with Ross puking all over himself and his car seat about 30 minutes from my parents house. Ugghh....talk about gross. It took a good 30 minutes at a gas station to clean the mess up. Have you ever tried to get puke off of a car seat with paper towels and wet wipes? Yeah, it isn't very effective. Thank goodness for Febreeze!!! After we stop and picked it up, the stench in the van became bearable. I must be suppressing bad memories however, because I don't remember much of the rest of the trip -- well, except for the fact that I rode the last 45 minutes home with my IPod on and turned up loud enough that I couldn't here the kids screaming. Yeah, it was THAT good of a trip!

Another Running Challenge!

I forgot to mention at the beginning of the month that I'm planning on running 50 miles again this month. I'm mostly doing it to combat holiday eating, but also because I've not been running as much as I should, so I'm trying to get more miles worked into my weekly routine.

I'm giving up on trying to map my miles, as most all of our subdivision is not mapped on any online program. Instead, I'm taking my slow average (12 minute miles) and backing into the mileage based upon time. So, thus far, I have 7.5 miles in. Unfortunately, I wasn't thinking when I planned this, since I'm not supposed to run for two weeks following my surgery. I'm hoping Jeremy will clear me for running after my next follow-up exam, else I'm going to have a couple really busy weeks at the end of the month!

I can see, I can see!!!

So, the surgery went really well last week. It was amazingly fast -- I think we were in and out in about an hour. My only complaint is that you have to stay awake for the procedure. I'm not good with anything that I would call "being fussed with" (like blood draws or anything involving a needle). The two Valium they had me take weren't exactly enough to keep my nerves at bay (even though Jeremy had promised me that I wouldn't care about anything once I took them). I did pretty well with the first eye, but he did have to stop lasering for a moment on the second eye because I was squirming too much. I think the 2nd eye was worse, because I knew what was coming. And, of course, I almost passed out afterwards just from sheer nerves. I really didn't feel anything during the procedure, though it was weird to be able to see them lifting my cornea off my eye.

I did have A LOT of discomfort by the time we got home (which took a while, because the Valium caused me to get a bad case of the munchies -- I wanted just about every junk food available). My eyes burned really badly, much like the time I got jalapeno juice on my contacts. I took a 45 minute nap (which was all the longer I could rest, even with a third Valium in me) and felt a little better, but was MAJORLY sensitive to light. The kids and Jeremy were down the street at John & Betty's, so I headed down there. Of course, there are a lot of Christmas lights up, which I rather loudly cursed as I tried to walk with my eyes closed down the street. And then, abruptly, about 30 minutes later I felt better. And the light sensitivity got a lot better. And it has been really good since then. I've had some problems with dry eye, but that is normal. The first several days I needed to lie down in the afternoon just to shut my eyes and rest them, but that has passed, too.

I should also mention that I could see rather well, though not perfectly, right after the surgery. By the next morning my vision was fabulous. I'm 100% pleased with the surgery and would do it again in a heartbeat (though, I would ask for a stronger sedative).

I'm getting fried today!

That is, I'm getting Lasik this afternoon. And I'm REALLY excited. I've been wearing glasses since either the 1st or 2nd grade (do you remember, Mom?) and contact lenses since the 7th (I believe, though it could have been the 8th). I can't see ANYTHING without corrective lenses -- I would never ever misplace my glasses because I couldn't get far enough away from them in the first place. So, wish me luck!

A great weekend!

So, we had a really really nice weekend with Hannah and my parents here for Thanksgiving. I was shocked, once again, to realize how tall Hannah is getting. Here is a photo just to give you some perspective:

Your kids aren't supposed to get that much taller than you, are they?

We, of course, spent Thursday having the big Thanksgiving dinner. I love to cook and thoroughly enjoyed the chance to dust off all my holiday recipes and specialty gadgets.

We were even brave enough to attempt a family picture. This was the best we got:



And I tried something completely new this year -- we made a gingerbread house. And, no, it wasn't from a kit. It was quite the interesting process and I have lots of ideas on how to make it go smoother next year. The dough rolling was quite the process (there was just a little cussing involved -- luckily, only Hannah was participating in that part). The directions said to roll the dough out on parchment paper. Do you know how hard that is? The paper just slides around on the counter (and, yes, I could have taped it down, but I was also trying to turn it every couple of strokes). And then once I got the pieces cut out I couldn't transfer them to the cookie sheet without stretching them out. I finally discovered that I could cut them out on the parchment paper and then just transfer the parchment paper to the cookie sheet. It went much smoother from that point. The assembly was much much easier than I thought it would be. And, of course, the kids loved the decorating part best. Here are a few shots of the process and the final product:

(This is Ross being dramatic about the noise the mixer makes.)

As usual, the weekend with Hannah went entirely too fast. I'm glad that we'll be seeing her again in just three short weeks to celebrate Christmas. I can't wait (though I am totally not ready for the trip -- lots to do)!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy happy Thanksgiving to everyone! We are, obviously, especially thankful this year to have Jeremy here -- the kids for their beloved daddy and me for my very best friend.

As I was preparing dinner today, it really got me to thinking about all the history and memories that are embedded into this tradition and how they reflect the life of our family. I've often wondered how we ended up here (in North Carolina in the military, not something we ever planned for when we married). Today, though, I'm very thankful for all the places we've been and the people we've met.

The stuffing made me smile as I thought of my friend Kathryn, a friend and co-worker at Battelle, who gave me the recipe, which made me think of all my other dear Columbus friends....Rona and Jess (who introduced me to scrapbooking), Jim (a truly nice guy, though he always acted the grump), Casey (who inspired me to try the herb crusted turkey), Ann Louise (who was always great to chat with), Rachel (who inspired me to dress better), Rena (who taught me to knit) and so many others that I can't condense them into this post. And thinking of my Battelle friends made me think of my Noron friends from Toledo...Norb (who so very much reminded me of my Grandpa R.), Kevin, Mark & Mike (all three who were just plain fun to work with), Becky (who I still miss chatting with), Jim (who always said what he was thinking), Trevor (whose wife gave me the best darn cookie recipe ever), Rick (who was just the sweetest guy with a great laugh) and many many more. I'm so very glad my life took me in a path that ran alongside, however briefly, with the paths of these people.


The rolls were made from a recipe my Great Aunt Marilyn gave me. Making the rolls made me think of all the family gathering over the years, but especially of my Grandma M. And we sat down to eat at the table that resided in my Grandma M.'s house for as long as I can remember. And thinking of Grandma always makes me wish I could have met my Grandpa. And it makes me miss my Aunt Deb & Uncle Thomas and my cousins, Aaron & Casey. I miss the noisiness of our family gatherings. And I'm thankful for all the times we've had together and the times we will have in the future. I'm thankful for the humor and fun that has always infused our gatherings.


The cranberry fluff was made from a recipe my mother in law gave me. I'm so very very thankful of what Jeremy has brought to my life, and into the life of our family, with his family. I missed having all of them with us today. I missed our post-dinner game of Trivial Pursuit, but am very grateful for the ones we've had. I'm thankful for the times that Judson & Johnna have brought me to tears with laughter (Chinese anyone? How about some key-lime disease, er, pie, i mean?). I'm thankful for in-laws that I love. I'm thankful for the help they've given, which has in turn let me get to know them better.

I set my table with silverware that belonged to my Great Grandma N, who was my Grandma R.'s mother. I thought of my Grandma & Grandpa R. and the times we gathered at their home. I thought of my aunts and uncles and cousins. I thought of Christmas parties at Aunt Jane & Uncle Ralph's house. I thought of card games and laughter. And I am so very thankful for all these things...for happy memories and people to love.

It is funny, how these little details of the day, which seem insignificant in many ways, have so much substance to them. No the stuffing and silverware aren't REALLY important as a physical object. But the memories and history they bring with them are important (at least for me -- a physical reminder to recall things that sometimes get shoved to the back of the brain in the business of everyday life).

And so, most important of all, I'm thankful for where I am now. I'm thankful to be who I am (faults and all) and to have the people in my life that I do. I'm thankful for the ability to be content with what I have, while still being able to look forward to what will come with the next bend in the road.

Getting excited for the Holidays!

I can't believe how quickly the last few weeks have flown by. I am so ready for the Holiday season this year. Honestly, the last year seems more and more like it never happened -- perhaps simply because I am suppressing bad memories. It just seems like I missed the Holiday's last year.

I've spent the last several days prepping for tomorrow. My parents are coming down and bringing Hannah with them, so I'm getting to host (which I love to do). I'm trying a new item this year -- sweet potato pie. Actually, to be specific, it is a maple-bourbon sweet potato pie. It smells divine and I can't wait to try it. Of course, I also have a batch of my Aunt Marilyn's refrigerator rolls ready to go (which are the absolute best yeast rolls EVER), as well as all the other traditional fixings (well, except cranberry sauce, which is something I've never had -- maybe next year I'll try that). I love cooking and baking, so I'm pretty much in heaven this week!

I dug my china out this afternoon, which I did not use at all while Jeremy was gone. It was weird, because I totally forgot about a lot of the stuff I have (or don't have, for that matter). In fact, I was talking to Jeremy as I was pulling things out and mentioned that I would really like to have a set of silver some day so that I don't have to use my beat up stainless with my good china, when I pulled open a drawer and found my Great-Grandma's silver set (well, silver plated anyway, which is close enough for me). Duh! I had totally forgotten that my mother had given it to me and that I was supposed to be looking for replacement pieces to fill in the service pieces. Talk about being forgetful!!!

And now to go finish prepping what I can yet tonight...

We're adjusting....

...and I'd say we're adjusting very well to having Jeremy home again. The last week has flown by and somehow (and I can't believe I'm saying this) his deployment already seems, in many ways, like a distant memory (or perhaps nightmare is a better word for it). For the most part, we've fallen back into our old roles. Jeremy's jet-lag and complete exhaustion from his trip have been the biggest challenge.

The kids have done amazingly well. Lucy has been reluctant to let Jeremy put her to bed, but other than that you'd never know that they've spent most of her life apart. And Jeremy has been just fabulous at stepping back into his role as daddy. The first morning he was home he popped right up with the kids and made waffles for them before I could even stumble out of bed.

We haven't done too much other than to enjoy spending time together. Jeremy is still on 1/2 days at work, so we've been playing each day by ear doing whatever it is that catches our interest. We're being mostly reclusive right now, so emails and phone calls aren't always being answered, which I'm hoping most everyone can understand. Family time is our #1 priority right now.

We did make a trip to the zoo on Sunday with some good friends of ours. We got the news just a few days before Jeremy came home that our friend would be deploying in a few short weeks. On a very selfish level, this upset me because I had really been looking forward to spending time with them as a couple (I'm way overdue for a few good games of euchre). And on a more serious level, I'm sad that my girl friend is just starting this horrible journey that I'm ending. So, that has been the one dark spot in our otherwise sunny lives. I suppose this is life in the military...

And I'd like to take this opportunity to say thanks to everyone who supported us for the last years -- whether through prayers, cheerful thoughts or a helping hand, we've really appreciated everything! I owe a special HUGE thanks to my in-laws, who did absolutely everything under the sun to keep things running smoothly here at home. It is an understatement to say that I would not have been able to survive the last year without them.

Finally!!!!!

He got home late last night. He was EXHAUSTED -- hadn't been to sleep in a bed for more than 3 days or something like that. We're all happy and healthy, though, and that is what matters!

Because I'm STILL waiting...

...I thought I would post our Halloween pictures.

I was very proud of myself for the resourcefulness that I used in assembling the kids costumes this year. I really don't like spending a lot of money on something they will only use once. So, I managed to put together all three costumes for about $16. The boys were pirates -- the black pants and vests were modifications from the sweatsuits that were left over from last year. The eye patches came from a very kind friend (good thing we know lots of eye docs). And the red fabric was about $2 from JoAnn. Lucy's costume was the "splurge". I bought a $10 hooded sweatsuit and sewed brightly colored felt on to make her a parrot costume. All three of the kids looked great and had a blast!

Still waiting!

And I'm running out of things to keep me busy. The floors have been swept over and over and over. The dishes are done. The laundry is mostly caught up, though I could possibly manufacture a load if I really wanted to. I went to the grocery store again today (for the 3rd time in the last 5 days). I have re-polished all the glass surfaces in the house for the 3rd day in a row. I cleaned the bathrooms (at 5:00 this morning -- yes, I'm a freak, I know). I got my hair cut and a pedi this morning. I finished knitting Lucy's hat today. I made cookies this evening and then I made a batch of homemade ice cream. I rowed this evening and then I worked out again after I put the kids in bed. The kids clothes are laid out for tomorrow and the diaper bag is already packed for any trips out of the house. And I CANNOT SIT STILL!!!!

Uggghhh...I know I should sleep. But I CAN'T! I'm too hyped up to sit still. JEREMY IS COMING HOME AND HE'LL BE HERE SOON!!!!!!!! I've been waiting for this day for almost an entire year.

Okay, so I'm a little excited.

REALLY Crazy Now

He's on his way!!!!!! I'm not sure how much I can/should post here, but did want to update that Jeremy is indeed on his way. In fact, he is no longer in Iraq!!!

I'm bouncing around here like an over excited toddler!!!

Now to see just how long it takes the Army to get him all the way home...

Crazy

A ride on the crazy train -- that is the best description I have for what this deployment has been for me. From the start, I've had strange compulsions and aversions. I haven't really drank since he left (seems wrong somehow to sit and enjoy a glass of wine without him), the commissary often makes me cry (I've actually talked to other women who had issues with this -- how dare people be happy while you're having a moment of "my husband would really like this, but he's not here to enjoy it and won't be home before it expires"? -- or just the fact that I can't escape the soldiers in uniform there), happy couples actually totally infuriate me, and I don't like to take evening walks anymore (because that is something we did often together)...you get the gist, right? Crazy...things I can logically convince myself don't make sense, but can't stop the compulsion anyway.

The end is in sight -- he could be home in as little as a week -- and my nervous crazy energy is turning into a cleaning spree. And no, not regular cleaning -- cleaning as in today I scrubbed the fridge out from top to bottom. Shampooing carpets and washing windows have been done (though I still need to finish shampooing carpets). I've been working on these projects for a while, but in the last few days I've really kicked it into overdrive. So the question is now, will I run out of dirty things to clean before he gets home? And if I do, what on EARTH will I do with myself to keep my mind occupied?

I'm SO looking forward to getting off of this train!

Because it has been a while...

...and because they are so cute, here are a few recent photos of the little ones. Unfortunately, I couldn't fit my camera in my suitcase when I visited Ohio a few weeks ago, so I don't have any new ones of Hannah.

Reid, staunchly refusing to cooperate for me:

Ross, happily cooperating:

And Lucy, after she learned to say "cheese". Now she hams it up with a huge smile and says "cheeee" for me.

Eleven!

Has it really been a month since I posted on here? Er, sorry about that. I'm afraid I must admit that my patience with this deployment has been completely exhausted and my mental status is sketchy. I'm grumpy, moody, distracted and useless most of the time. The good news is, I only need to survive a few more weeks of this as today marks eleven months. November 17th should be a worst case scenario for Jeremy's return. I'm trying not to get my hopes up that he'll be home much before that, as I'd rather have a pleasant surprise at the end instead of disappointment when it takes all 365 days for him to get home.

We've had a busy month around here. Lucy has been completely weaned for several weeks now(yeah!). Ross has had a sudden burst of success with potty training -- in fact, an amazing burst of success. About two weeks ago I decided it was time to get serious and after about two days of constant supervision he just seemed to get it. He already is telling us when he needs to go on his own (I rarely prompt him to use the potty anymore, except before we leave the house or bedtime). In fact, he's only had one accident (which was luckily at night when he was already wearing a diaper) in the last five or so days. Jeremy had told me to have them all potty trained by the time he got home...at least I'm 1/2 way to that goal. I'm thinking he should be responsible for potty training Lucy, since he missed out completely on potty training Ross.

I seem to be "nesting" in anticipation of Jeremy's return. In the last 2 weeks I tore apart, cleaned, organized and painted the master bedroom closet and the pantry. I've re-organized both the boys and Lucy's closets in the last several weeks. I re-did some of the shrubs in front of the house. John power washed the house and I cleaned all the windows inside and out. The kitchen cabinets have been scrubbed. I shampooed the carpet in the upstairs of the house (downstairs is still on the to-do list). I still have a few more things on my list, but I have plenty of time to get them done (I think). The nesting seems to be a result of my restlessness and a desire to have the house perfect when he gets home. Though at this point, the restlessness seems to be the driving factor. I just HAVE to keep myself busy all the time or I feel like I'll go crazy. I seriously think I might end up pacing around the house waiting for him to walk in the door if I don't keep myself occupied.

To top it all off, I seem to have developed a case of insomnia in the last month. I'm tired ALL THE TIME. I just cannot fall asleep at night and when I wake up I can't fall back asleep easily, no matter how exhausted I am. I know this will all get better when Jeremy gets home, so I just keep telling myself I only need to survive a few more weeks of this.

So I'm off to the next thing to keep myself busy, which will probably be assembling the kids Halloween costumes.

Ten!

Today marks ten months down on this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad deployment! I'm starting to get antsy at the thought of Jeremy coming home, so I'm trying not to think about it. It gets harder the closer we get, though. I've already started to "nest" -- I want the house in perfect order when he comes home (not that he cares, but I do -- don't want him to think I didn't do my share of the work for the last year). So, I painted the laundry room last weekend. Next on my list is to finish scrubbing the pool fence (can't power wash the darn thing without spraying the cleaners into the pool), then reorganize and clean our closet (perhaps paint it, too) and then on to power washing the house and washing the windows. I'm thinking I'll be dead exhausted by the time he gets home, if I get everything done that I want to. Hopefully keeping busy will keep me from being too antsy...

Two more months (at the most) to go....I can't wait to put this behind us!

Day off?

So, Tuesday is our "day off" around here. This is what we've done so far today:

• Put laundry room back together after painting, which included scrubbing the cupboards and floor, remounting wall hardware (hook for ironing board, brooms, etc), mounting the dust buster to the wall (finally, after two years!), and touching up the trim paint
• Mopped all the hard floors in the house
• Swept all the carpet downstairs
• Did four loads of laundry
• Dusted entire downstairs (well, except my room, which is where I'm headed next)
• Swam in the pool with the kids for a 1/2 hour
• Made dinner while kids clambered around me screaming that they were starving (all the while they were shoving oranges in their mouths -- yes, I clearly hadn't provided them with food today)
• Read 4 books to the kids
• Had a battle of the wills with Reid over whether or not we were going to practice his speech homework (I won, by the way)
• Had a battle of the wills with Reid over whether or not he was going to take a nap today (I lost, by the way)
• Danced to "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountaint" a dozen too many times
• Set the boys to timeout three times for not keeping their hands to themselves and twice for rampaging through my flower beds and trampling my plants
• Changed at least 6 poopy diapers
• And everything else I've already forgotten...

Uggghhh...I don't think I've sat for more than 5 minutes today. I'm pooped. So, really, I'm wondering exactly how this is a day off!?!? When did I start viewing a DAY OFF as an excellent opportunity to accomplish a million things, instead of relaxing and recuperating? Those pregnancy hormones must damage the brain a bit...

Editing to clarify: No, I am not pregnant. I'm referring to the fact that with each child I've had I've become seemingly more determined to exhaust myself on a daily basis.

Lucy turns 1!

So, today I wished my baby girl "Happy 1st Birthday"! I can't hardly believe it -- the last year seems to have flown by in so many ways (and slowly in others, but certainly not in respect to Lucy). It hardly seems possible that she is officially a toddler and that our family is saying goodbye to the years of having a baby in the house (and, yes, we absolutely will not be having anymore).

We spent the weekend at the ocean where my parents, sister, aunt, uncle and cousin were vacationing. I made her cake early last week, so that I could have the fun of making her one before we were gone. This is what she got:

I was totally pleased with the cake. It took FOREVER to make, though. I rolled the fondant strips for the cupcake base out several days in advance, so that they could dry enough to hold their shape. I also made all the confetti pieces from fondant, as I wanted the coloring to match. That alone took 1 1/2 hours. Add to that the 1/2 hour I spent making the fondant several days before that. And then there was the baking the cake and making the buttercream and assembling....I think that cake had about 6 hours of work in it. But it was perfect for my little princess, so I'm not complaining. Oh, yeah, it was lime cake and lime buttercream, which is quickly becoming one of my favorites....mmmmmm!

And here is the little girly enjoying her cake:

And here she is opening presents. Doesn't that look like a painful way to sit?!?!

And then her birthday celebrations were continued at the ocean. Here she is opening her gifts there (decked out in her Buckeye gear because it was game day!):

She got the CUTEST tutu from her Great Aunt Deb, Great Uncle Thomas and cousin Casey! Now, I never in a million years would have thought to buy her something like this, but it is SO STINKING CUTE! Actually, my parents and sister & brother-in-law coordinated with the monkey theme, so she got an entire wardrobe of monkey clothes for the fall -- I can't wait to get this stuff on her!

So, I'd say she had a wonderful time celebrating this week. Happy Birthday, Lucy!

And we're off!

Reid had his first day of pre-school yesterday! Our schedule is suddenly crazy, but it will be good to get back into a routine. Summer was nice, but random, which isn't the best for the little ones (or me, for that matter).

I was quite amused with him on the way there. It was like he was trying to prove that he was ready to learn (or, I suppose, getting warmed up). The whole way there he was like a little pre-school version of an encyclopedia that was spewing at me from the back seat. "M makes the mmmmm sound, Mommy, like the word marshmallow." "My lunchbox is a square because it has four sides." (Then we had a rather lengthy discussion about the difference between rectangles and squares, which got me absolutely no where.) And there was a peppering of questions, too. "How many sides does a triangle have?" "They have three, Reid." "Oh, I don't like triangles."

He was really excited to go and I'm really excited for him. I'm really impressed with his teacher this year (last year's was a big disappointment). I can't wait to see what he learns!

And just because they're cute...

Here is a decent shot of the kids together.

Lucy said, "take this stupid thing off me!"

My favorite new outfit for the fall! She was sooooo stinking cute in this!

Comment: Updated post to fix gross gramatical error. Good grief -- I swear my brain is rotting in my skull some days!

A series of funny photos

The other night, the kids were in the backyard playing and I, of course, had my camera out and was snapping pictures. The boys were swinging, when Reid asked me to take pictures of him making funny faces. I told him okay and snapped a dozen or so. He loves looking at the pictures on the camera. So, it wasn't until I downloaded the pictures that I noticed something really funny. Check out Ross's face in these photos (to really appreciate them, you need to click on the individual photo to see the full size shot). He was totally not participating in the funny face making -- he was just swinging and making noise (he's a constant stream of chatter and wonky sounds right now). His facial expressions are just hilarious! I got a total kick out of these...

Feeling tapped out.

Yeah, I haven't posted in a while. I'm just feeling overwhelmed at the moment -- overwhelmed mostly by the sheer volume of things I need to accomplish every day. Did you know that three small children can generate a massive amount of dirt in a day? I swear I spend 50% of my life cleaning up the routine stuff -- diaper changes, face washing after meals, dishes and laundry. Add to that the time I spend doing the other things that need cleaned/cared for -- sweeping, mopping, dusting, oil changes in the van, pool maintenance, broken microwaves (add appliance repairwoman to my job description, though I suppose that story deserves a post of its own someday), etc. -- and there just doesn't seem to be any time left at the end of the day. I keep telling myself that once school starts for Reid (on Wednesday) and we get into a new routine, things will get better. I think that I might be delusioned to think that, but I'm going to continue believing it until I've been proven wrong.

So, anyway, that is what I've been doing -- busy chasing the kids around cleaning up after them. And I'm out of time for now, so off I go to try and get the dusting finished before the kids come back from their evening stroll with Grandma & Grandpa.

I have a teenager!

Yes, yes, I know this post is a bit late. The last two weeks have been super busy. Hannah's birthday was on the 10th, then we travelled to Ohio to return her to her dad's house for the school year and now we've spent this week recovering.

Did I mention that I can't believe that I have a teenager? Where oh where did the last 13 years go? It is strange to realize that we have just a few more years before she is heading off to college as an adult.

So, Hannah requested a chocolate cake covered with fondant for her birthday. She isn't a flowery, girly girl, so I decided to try a soccer ball cake, as she will be playing soccer this fall. That is the short version of the story, anyway...I definitely didn't have a clue how I was going to pull off a soccer cake, but did it anyway because she liked the idea. So, here is the cake:

I was totally displeased with it. The top was okay, but the sides just look warped and strange. The cross lines between the blue patches are all wonky on the sides. She was happy with it, though, so I suppose that is really all that matters.

And here is a pic of my birthday girl!

And this is what I believe will be labeled as the "official" 13th birthday picture. I used to have photos taken at Penney's or Sears or some such place each year, but I realized that I was getting just as good (if not better) shots on my own than I can get with their (often) inexperienced staff.

Happy birthday, Hannah!

Vehicles!

Last week was a pretty "interesting" week. On Tuesday evening I decided that I just did not want to cook (or do anything for that matter). I asked John & Betty if they would like to join us at MiCasita, a local Mexican restaurant chain, and they agreed to join us for the outing. Now, we don't all fit in my van anymore, which is the only vehicle with a car seat for Lucy in it (the middle seat in the 3rd row is rendered useless because the boys seats overhang so much). So, Betty & I and all the kids headed to the restaurant in my van. John was going to follow shortly after in another vehicle, as he was getting cleaned up from mowing lawns. The restaurant is only about 5 or 6 miles from our house -- a straight shot down a busy four lane road. We were about 2/3rds way there when I suddenly lost the ability to accelerate. All the lights stayed on and the engine seemed to keep running, but I just couldn't go anymore. I panicked for a moment and then things started working again. I decided to keep driving, as we were most of the way to the restaurant at this point. As I was waiting at the light to turn left into the restaurant parking light, it happened again. And this time it did not resolve itself. I was able to get it to coast at about 5 MPH across the road and into the parking lot. And once I turned it off, it would not turn on again. We decided to go in and feed the hungry kids and worry about the van when we're done (well, I worried about the van and everyone else enjoyed dinner). We called John & asked him to bring their Suburban, so that we had a working vehicle we'd all fit in (but we'd have to move those stinking car seats, which is no fun). Thank goodness we weren't all in my van, else we would have had to figure out how to get one of us home to get the truck!



When we came out, we were able to jump it and get it to, again, coast but it would do nothing more than that. John tried to drive it a bit, but then it died for good. The auto shop, which I was -- ironically -- going to take the van to the next day for some routine maintenance, was just down the road. This is where I have to say -- I LOVE AAA!!! They towed the van (fairly promptly) down to the auto shop -- in fact, they let me leave the vehicle in John's care so that I could take the kids home and get them ready for bed. I will NEVER go without a AAA membership again!

Now, I'm not a car person, so no one start asking me to explain anything technical. All I know is that they had to do something to the alternator and the battery needed replaced. All is in working order now. I am just so grateful that this happened last week and not this week. I'm leaving for Ohio on Wednesday. I cringe to think what would have happened if the van had broken down on I-77 in West Virginia!

More knitting!

Hannah wanted me to make her a new hat for this winter. We poured over tons of patterns before we stumbled across this one. It is called "Bella's Hat" (which I got from here), which is designed to match the mittens that Bella wears in the movie "Twilight". I think the only reason she picked this pattern is because it has a "Twilight" link, but I don't care -- I actually really like the pattern. And I adore the mittens, which I'm going to make for myself (and a hat, too) when I finish one of my other projects (I have two others going right now -- a cardigan for me and a sweater for Ross).


I knit this with two strands of yarn held together, which I didn't particularly like. I had to tear it out after I was about an inch into it because the two strands were so tangled that I couldn't get them straightened out without doing so. Then I almost finished it, before I decided it was a touch too small and needed to be knit on larger needles. The third time was the charm, though, and I'm quite happy with the results. The hat is a little fuzzy, though, from all the extra handling. If I hadn't mucked it up the first time, I could have probably finished this in 3 hours (and I'm a slow knitter).

Hannah had been harassing me daily about when I was going to make the hat, so I might have waited a while to do it, but I couldn't stand the constant harassment. I tried to point out to her that she wouldn't need it until AT LEAST sometime in September (perhaps a cool Friday night football game?!?!). That didn't deter her from thinking that she needed it now. Oh well...it didn't take long and is done...

Did you hear that?

I'm sure you must have. If not, listen closely for the faint sound of someone exhaling loudly all the way in Iraq. A deep sigh of resignation, as his silly wife has become obsessed with something new.

And, before I go into details, I'm going to place the blame for this obsession on a dear friend -- my high school friend Susan (well, and a bit to my good friend, Jessica, as well). Susan got married, hmmm let's see, six years ago I believe. When I went to purchase her shower gift, I was horrified to find that she had registered for Fiestaware. Well, I was not horrified with the Fiestaware itself, but the fact that she had registered for one set of every color. "What was she thinking?", I said to myself, "that is going to be hideous!" So, I purchase her a set (a cobalt set, I do believe) and shrug my shoulders, "whatever she wants, its her house". Fast forward a bit to a baby shower being hosted at Jessica's house (a co-worker at Battelle and a good friend). As we're standing in the kitchen, prepping for the party, she opens her cupboard only to reveal a vast and colorful Fiestaware collection. My reaction was not one of horror, but one of pure delight. It was so colorful and fun. I fell in love instantly. And, of course, each time I've been in Susan's home since, I have been attracted her colorful collection of dishes. And, of course, I've been wanting my own set.

Now, I have my own full set of nice stoneware that we received as wedding gifts. I keep reminding myself of this - I do not need dishes. But after 5+ years of wishing for my own collection, I caved. I bought 4 pieces on Friday, though I was totally irritated to discover that the platter I purchased was warped and needs to be returned. Pretty aren't they?


I have no intentions of getting rid of my other dishes, partly because it will take me a long time to collect a full set of the Fiestaware and partly because the dishes were wedding gifts and I can't bring myself to part with them.

I'm fortunate that my husband, though he doesn't understand why I want new dishes, is just happy to make me happy. I'm a lucky gal!

We call her Miss Fang!

So, Lucy's top lateral teeth came in before her top center teeth. The look is quite precious on its own, but she also makes this face where she opens her mouth and kind of hisses at us (makes me think of the vampires in "Twilight" every time she does it) and the effect is hilarious! I've been trying to catch both the look and the teeth on camera for a while now. I finally caught it today, which is good, because her center teeth are just about to come in. I'm sure some day she will be thrilled that I captured this look on camera!

And a couple just too cute not post pictures:

Burnt out on breastfeeding!

Disclaimer: If you find the subject of breastfeeding distasteful, then move on now.

Did you know that by the time Lucy turns 1 year old, that I will have been nursing and/or pregnant for 5 years? That is a really long time to share your body with little people. And I'm, quite frankly, tired of it. I really want to make it to one year of nursing with her, like I did with Ross & Reid, but I'm totally struggling. If I'm even nursing just once a day at that point, I'll be happy.

She's been getting one bottle a day for about 6 weeks and I'm loving the extra freedom that brings me. I've really been wanting to introduce a second, but I know it is a slippery slope and that I'll be clamoring to add a third then, too. So, I'm trying to hold out until she gets to 11 months before I introduce anymore bottles.

But, really, I'm just totally done with this. I know it is what is best for her. I know it is what is the most economical. Yada, yada, yada...whatever. At this point, I'm really just hanging in there because I said I was going to nurse for a year.

That all being said, I'm really really happy that I was able to nurse three kids for a year each. And it wasn't all bad, either (well, after the first six weeks of Reid's life, anyway). And I would love to encourage every mom out there to give it an honest try, as it was a totally rewarding experience on so many levels. I'll always be happy to offer encouragement and advice to moms who are struggling with breastfeeding. I just don't ever want to do this again myself.

Anyone want to join me for a boppy burning party in September?

In case you didn't know...

...washcloths don't go through the garbage disposal very well. Good thing John was around to find the reset switch on the thing...

As a side note...

...I was down 21 pounds at the start of R&R. I was down only 16 when he left. Ugh...happy fat!

R&R!!!

Oh, my, what a wild and wonderful two weeks we had while Jeremy was home!


It did start off a bit rocky. I had expected Jeremy on a Tuesday afternoon flight. He had a layover in Atlanta which he was hoping to shorten. I was expecting that he could get here several hours earlier (or later) than anticipated. So, I got up and had a slew of things to do (including several errands to run before I picked him up) -- I baked bread and a pie and had a lot of last minute cleaning to do. This was the moment I had been looking forward to for months and I had an idealized vision of how it would be. I wanted to go to the airport alone so that I could have him to myself for a bit before having to share him with the kids. I had also purchased a special (though certainly not fancy) outfit for the occasion. Around 8:00 (the time his flight was supposed to arrive in Atlanta), it occurred to me that I should get my phone (which had been on vibrate) from the bedroom, in case he called me when he got into Atlanta. To my horror, I realized I had missed a long distance call when I picked up my phone. There was a message from Jeremy -- he would be arriving at the local airport in 30 minutes time (from the time I got the message). At this point, I was still in my pajamas (covered in flour), there was a pie in the oven and the kids needed baths. Betty was with Hannah at swimming, so I couldn't even leave the kids at home. I was glad he was getting in early, but all my plans had been ruined. I had to call Betty and have her pick him up. Aunt Johnna came down (after Betty called her) to help, only to find me in an absolutely hysterical and vile mood. I was MAD. And I was still mad when he got home, though that fizzled out quickly. It was weird for a couple of hours before things just settled back into place. I felt bad, but the first thing he got to do on his R&R was run errands -- we didn't want to be apart at that point, even if we were only together at the pool store.

We took the kids to the North Carolina Symphony concert and fireworks that they had here in town, which is one of my favorite activities of the year. The kids all had a good time. We were going to attend the Ft. Bragg festivities, but ended up taking a last minute trip to the beach. Instead we took the kids to the festivities at Camp LeJeune. They weren't nearly as big, but it wasn't the mass crowd that Ft. Bragg gets, so was a bit more enjoyable.

Here is the whole family together at the concert:

Since there are rarely pictures of me on here, I thought I'd throw this one in. This is Lucy & I enjoying an evening stroll at the beach:

Lucy really seemed to enjoy the beach. She didn't seem overly impressed or worried by the water. The sand was a lot of fun, though.

A shot of us being beach bums together:

We spent a good deal of time at home, just hanging out and doing whatever we fancied at any given moment. We did plenty of swimming. We also took the kids blueberry picking. We came home with about 10 pounds, which won't last us long. I'm planning on going back several more times to stock the freezer for the year. I'll have to be a lot more careful next time, as I managed to get pretty eaten up by fire ants (I swear, NC is one big anthill!).

Lucy was a sweet little girl and was kind enough to take her first steps while Jeremy was here. Of course, neither Jeremy or I witnessed them. Grandma & Hannah were there, though. She's still only taking a few steps at a time, but I'm sure it won't be long before she is off and running. She really wants to walk and practices a lot.

We had two of my high school girlfriends and their families over one day. The boys were enamored of the little girly who visited and keep asking when she is coming to visit again. They had a lot of fun just running around the backyard together. It was a really nice day.

Jeremy & I spent the second weekend in Charlotte, without the kids. It was a really nice time. We did a ton of driving around. I think we've decided that Charlotte is where we want to be long term. I'm really excited that we have a direction we're heading towards now and can start working on the details. Of course, we'll go where there is a good practice opportunity, so our final destination could always change.

We had dinner at The Melting Pot in honor of our 9th anniversary. We ate entirely too much food and thoroughly enjoyed it. We, of course, had to hit IKEA, too. That store is just fascinating to me. We haven't bought much there, but the kids have done well -- we have a load of their train sets that the kids use almost daily. I even picked up one of the boys Christmas gifts while we were there.

This was Jeremy & I on the way out the door for Charlotte. I'm wearing the aforementioned unused coming home outfit (which I was so mad about that I almost refused to wear at all).

On one of the last days of R&R, we took the kids to the zoo. The weather was wonderful -- sunny and very comfortable. We all had a really good time, though everyone was exhausted by the time we got home. Here is a picture of Daddy playing pack mule while we were there:

And this was taken the last evening of R&R. It is virtually impossible to get a picture of all my children at the same time and have them all both smiling and looking at the camera.

We played a ton of Scrabble, ate entirely too much, drank plentifully and had a really great time. It came at the right time, because I think both Jeremy & I had hit rock bottom on morale. I was shocked the first couple of days how happy I was. I really truly had forgotten how good our life is and it seemed like AGES since I had felt happy. It was good to have a reminder of what is to come when Jeremy gets home.

I dropped Jeremy off at the airport on Thursday. I have no clue where he is, as I haven't heard anything from him since Thursday afternoon. It wasn't as bad letting him go this time as it was the last. I think it took 6 - 8 weeks, if not longer, after he initially left for me to stop being a basket case (seriously, going to the grocery store made me cry for a long time). I had my little meltdown on the way home and then picked myself up and kept going with what needs done here. My new mission is Christmas projects -- hopefully I can keep myself busy with them to help pass the time.