cute stuff

I'm not very good at remembering all the cute things (I think they are) my kids say and do, so I thought I would put a few recent ones down here. I haven't jumped on the scrapbooking bandwagon (cute as it is) and journals look pretty sitting on my shelves. Anyway, a couple of things said recently in our house:

BG: "Two-bite cupcakes are four bites for me. I counted!"
BB: : "Can I have a tambourine? Me: "A what?" BB: "A tambourine, you know that you peel" M: "ooooh, a tangerine!"
LB: "rraaaarrr" He likes to peek around your chair and try to scare you...
LB: "mama, tatu" (translation: thank you)

BG: "Nicky is my best friend" (he's a boy across the street).
BB: "He can't be your best friend because your best friend has to be in your family" (just a little jealousy since Nicky is so nice to Isabelle)

I guess BB doesn't feel big families are weird:
BB: "mommy, were you a lonely child?"
M: "do you mean only child"
BB: "yeah, only child. did you have any other little kids in your house when you were little?"
M: "yes, I had Aunty M., Aunty C., Uncle J., Aunty K., and Uncle J"
BB: "I think we should have 2 more kids in our house so we can be like yours"
(keep dreaming little man...)

bunco babes and babysitters

Last night I went to my second bunco gathering since moving here. Lots of fun and I love it! I consider it one of the constant comforts of military living as it seems that every place we have moved in the last 6 years I have been fortunate to play bunco with a great group of ladies. In case you've never played, let me tell you it's not about the game (which is great fun on it's own), but about the getting together with fun, diverse women who always bring great food, drinks, and conversation! One of the big (OK, maybe only) things I missed when I left the army was the comraderie or instant bond of people in the same situation and place and I guess I've found much of that same feeling with each bunco group I've been a part of. I don't make friends that easily (see previous post about talking to strangers) so it's easier for me to walk into a group of women who I know want to get together and just have some fun and get to know other ladies. Another great thing is all the connections you rediscover. So many ladies last night had seen or known each other from past assignments or friends of friends or people we know in common. It just makes our community feel so much smaller and not so lonely! Kind of like a huge extended family of cousins you haven't heard from in a while...

So, with J gone I needed to get a babysitter for last night. This is her second time watching the kids and they wanted to make sure they had some fun with her and not just clean their rooms, watch a movie and go to bed (mother's dream, right?). After the first time she was here, J was a bit concerned (he's more paranoid and tends to read people better than I) because BB and BG didn't have a super great time and he thought she might be a bit too controlling with the kids. But, after last night they were asking when she could come back! They were all asleep when I got home, she said everything went well but she couldn't find her keys and her friend had brought her spares. She was very nice about it, since I knew right away one of the little stinkers had taken them and I thought it showed great restraint on her part to not wake them up and ask where they had put her keys! After checking the garbage can (LB likes to throw things away!), I asked BB and BG this morning if they knew where her keys were and right away BB got the 'busted' look and went and got them from his hiding spot. Little clown boy was trying to 'play' with the babysitter and then forgot about the keys when she didn't notice them missing right away... We've been reluctant to leave all 4 kids with a babysitter in the past, (they're just not the same as mommy & daddy(or wonderful friend Victoria!) so I'm hopeful that this babysitter will continue to work out.

Crazy shopping day

J left yesterday morning for 2 weeks in Fort Huachuca, so the kids and I did what we usually do when daddy leaves and spend as much of the day out of the house as possible... For some reason, I am reluctant to go home the day my husband leaves. Not the greatest coping technique for the bank account, but everyone was tired and went straight to bed after a full day at the Carousel Center mall in Syracuse! We haven't been to an actual indoor mall in over a year (I do miss the outdoor shopping areas in KC!) and this is a huge one which they are making bigger... Anyway, they had a lot of great shops and we hit the arcade for a while and we rode the carousel and had a late lunch (I usually go to a sit down place when I have all the kids by myself instead of trying to juggle food court and 4 kids and crowds!) then hit a couple of more shops and finally home. The kids did great except for a little bit of whining from BG. "We've been here for hours and hours, can we go home now?" Easily appeased by the Disney Store... LG and LB took a nap and looked so cute sleeping side by side in the new stroller, which I really hate (the stroller, not that they looked cute). I'm really missing my old Duo-glider. Yeah, it was long and heavy, but still easier to manuever through doors and aisles and I didn't feel like such a wide-load. I think I'll get some signs and flashers for BB and BG and have them walk in front and back to warn people we're coming through! My friend just posted her thoughts on big families and there's nothing like a trip to a crowded mall to drive it home...

Here are a few of the things we heard:

"Are those all yours?" increduously (all those what?) (sometimes I want to look around before answering that one)
"1,2,3,4, wow!" (oh, good you can count)
"You've got your hands full" (by far the most popular comment)
"Wow, you've got my respect" (dad w/ one child)
"You must be big helpers" (to Will and Izzy, 'cause your mom is surely demented and couldn't possible handle all of you herself...")
"I don't know how you do it" (How would I not do it)
"Are you done?" (with what?) yes, strangers really ask!
"You poor thing" (as if 4 beautiful children are something to pity)
"I've got one two year old, I can't imagine two!" (I try not to imagine too much, reality is enough!)
and my favorite "You have a beautiful family" (they must have been being good, 'cause the guy sitting next to us in the restaurant said that and then he pointed out that Rohan had milk on his forehead!)

I'm not sure why people feel they have to comment on the size of our family and I thought I would get used to it after having twins and the attention they got every time we went out. I would never think of saying to someone "Oh, you only have one child, you poor thing, how do you deal with all of your free time?" or something equally invasive. By and large, most people are just trying to be friendly, but I feel like my kids are going to start thinking they're wierd because they get so much attention for being in a 'large' family. I come from a family of six kids and my sister has six (which is small in her community!) so four kids just doesn't seem excessive (not that I'm looking for more!). Anyway, we're happy with all four of them and wouldn't trade them for anything, I could just do with a little less attention! Ok, I'll stop complaining...

BG is FIVE!

Well, BG turned five (going on 15 sometimes!) on January 31st and we had a birthday party for her on the 15th (J's b-day) at the Community Center in our housing area. I'm not sure when or if we should be concerned about it, but most of her friends here are boys. We tried to come up with something that boys would enjoy as well as girls and Willem suggested 'knights kingdom.' I think it succeeded and everyone seemed happy with their tiaras or knight's helmets. Some of my best memories growing up were my mom's cakes on our birthdays, so Isabelle and I made a castle cake with sprinkles (not exactly the professional level of my mom's but BG was happy!) and banners and white chocolate frosting (yum!) that tasted better than it looked! The community center has a play area and a kitchen and great room and was a great location for kids running around and games. As usual, I try to pack too much in and forget important things like cameras (had to use my phone and a friend had hers) and blindfolds for the pin the sword on the dragon game and I'm sure there was more... Anyway, BG had fun, her friends had fun, the other moms were wonderful and helped us clean up, J got to be here for it and actually helped out! and I survived another birthday party...

Adventures in health care

So, you're probably tired of hearing about snow already... So I'll just say this and then change the subject: Snow is a many splendored thing and I'm learning of all its subtle and not so subtle nuances. We've had huge fluffy flakes and ice 'pellets' and lake effect snow, which I still don't have figured out, and my favorite, Winter mix which is a mixture of everything cold and wet and ice-y you can think of falling from the sky! And the main way to feel the difference is on the end of a snow shovel! There, that's my piece on snow for a while!

So, the kids have all had their checkups with the new doctor. They don't have enough doctors at the clinic on-post so we are seeing a 'civilian' doctor. But after the fiasco of LG and LB's first visit, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go back! They both came out of the doctors office with bruises... It started with me deciding not to bring the stroller in (we've got a side-by-side now as we left our old duo-glider behind when we moved) since the parking was right outside the door and it was just a waiting room and a doctors office, right? So, in the little play area, they have some little kid size chairs and as LB is climbing on one he overbalanced and landed on his forehead on the hard tile floor. Of course, I'm trying to fill out the paperwork with two toddlers running loose and now trying to hold a ice pack on his head at the same time. Maybe that's why we didn't wait long! Anyway, they saw the doctor who seemed competent enough, but not exactly warm and fuzzy, and they're fine and healthy and both in about the 25th% for height and weight and doing everything they're supposed to. Both screamed during shots, which always upsets me and LB got even more upset when the med-student assisting held him as I was holding LG. He's a bit wary of strangers to begin with. So we're done with all that and I'm making appointments for the other kids on the way out and LG and LB are running up and down the waiting room when LB runs into LGband pushes her headfirst onto the floor. She hits both lips and starts bleeding down her front. At that point, I just got out of there as quickly as I could with two screaming babies, strapped them in the car and drove straight home! It wasn't until later I noticed LG chipped a front tooth and LB's forehead had a nice sized bruise which healed just in time to go back for BB and BG... I learned my lesson well and brought the stroller in! And BB is finally learning his lesson about wearing underwear as he was quite embarrassed that he didn't have any on during his examination! He and LF are both healthy as well. BB's a big boy on the top of the growth chart and BG is still right at 50%. We'll be going to an orthopedic surgeon soon for BB's 'bone spurs.' He has one on his right forearm that is taking away bone from the growth plate and causing his arm to grow irregularly. Genes: can't live without 'em!

OK, it is that bad

OK, I was just starting to think it's not that bad here and I can handle the snow. I think I had built it up so big in my head before we moved and was expecting 12 feet of snow all the time that the reality has been quite nice.... until walking out of the house this morning into the 3 degree temperatures with wind chills in the -12 range or so. Yikes! LB started screaming as the wind hit his poor little face and even the pre-warmed van didn't help because in the short walk to the van (all of 25 feet) he lost both mittens and stuck his hands in the snow tunnel lining our walkway. So he cried until his hands warmed up again and LG just cries every time we put her in her car-seat with her big jacket on. I know I feel constricted in all the layers, so for a little one strapped in a seat it probably feels like a straight-jacket. Needless to say, we've been a lot more creative in our indoor actitivies... Lots of dance parties, paint in the hair, crayon on the walls (courtesy of Rohan), train set is out of retirement, 'swimming' in the bathtub (usually after the painting), dressing up (for some reason all of my shoes are off the rack), baking and tea parties (why have I gained 5 lbs since arriving here?). So that was Monday; I have no idea what we'll do tomorrow! Before the temperature drop, we actually had a couple of nice days playing in the snow. Willem was finally satisfied with the amount of snow on the ground! We finally purchased a little ourdoor firebowl when we got here, so John dug it out from under 3 feet of snow this weekend. It's been nice to be able to warm up the little hands and tushies and send them all back in the snow. It was toasty enough that Willem and Isabelle thought it would be great for the whole family to camp in their snow fort the other night. We distracted them with marshmallows and promptly went in the house...

Snow Days

I thought a snow day would be a good day to start a blog. A few of my friends have been writing and I've really enjoyed keeping up with them. Anyway, there was about 18 inches of snow this morning and Willem had no school again for the 4th time in 2 weeks. So, my workout today was shoveling the driveway and walk, twice. Willem loves playing in the snow; he comes in to change gloves and goes right back out. Isabelle goes out for about 20 minutes and comes in and leaves a trail of snow-clothes down to her room. It takes her longer to get dressed for going out than her actual time outside... Josie and Rohan get excited when I bring their boots out, but after being outside for about 10 minutes they're ready to come in. I'm starting to wonder if it's worth the time and effort of actually getting them dressed in their snow getups for the small amount of time we spend outside! Anyway, I hope to be able to update this every few days and hopefully get some pictures posted too. I'm constantly amazed at how fast the kids are growing and learning and I want to be able to stop and reflect on it a little and hope you don't mind my ramblings as I do so.