Too smooth...

Things were going too smoothly the last couple of days since John has been gone. So I shook things up with a trip to Target with all the kids. Babies were not napping well today and Rohan finally fell asleep around 4 which is too late if I want to get him to bed at night. So after Willem got home from school we loaded up to get one more game for the Wii. As soon as we get in there, I usually make them go to the bathroom, but both W & I denied needing to go, so we went and got me some coffee and a couple of cookies for everyone to share from Starbucks. Went and looked around, took forever in the toy department and had to wait for someone to unlock the games. Rohan woke up when we got there and was a little fussy in the cart, but easily distracted by toys and a couple of tiny sips of my coffee. So we get the game and W says he has to go to the bathroom really bad and Iz does too. So we're going as quickly as we can all the way back to the front of the store and we're almost there when I almost slip on something wet... I look down and Rohan is throwing up all over the himself, the double seat cart and Josie sitting across from him! So we drip the rest of the way to the bathroom where I get him and Josie cleaned up as good as we can, come back out, transfer carts, pay for our stuff, apologize profusely for our mess and head home. He only threw up once on the way home and once as soon as we got home and he had a little drink of water. Other than the vomiting, he seems fine and is jumping around as usual. Towels in his bed and we'll see how the night goes. So sad that this is what I consider excitement...

Snow! On April 29.

Josie saying I love you to Daddy and giving him kisses.

OK, I was told it could snow through April here and it has been unseasonably warm the last few weeks, but I didn't really want to believe it. Well, I believe it now. It's snowing and there are icicles hanging from the swingset. And the heat is back on this morning. I better go get my hanging plants in... And the winter coats back out...

Army family

I need to brag on my neighbors and friends a little bit, ok maybe a lot... We saw John off yesterday afternoon, well mostly. We didn't wait for him to get on the bus, but hung out with him for a couple of hours during weapons draw and moving gear to the motorpool etc... We've never been big on the sitting around moping before a departure (usually a stop by the curb, kick out the door, quick hug & kiss, I love you, be safe, bye!) but this time we did it as long as the kids were happy. After a while the babies were whining and it was time to go. So he is on his way. Now back to the bragging part: There was dinner waiting on our porch when we got back, neighbors coming over to offer their help and support and the help of their husbands for any 'heavy work', sweet cards and comments in my email inbox, two friends from down the street brought cupcakes and a bottle of wine and a nice chat, and a call from our FRG leader just to make sure I was doing ok. So far I'm doing ok, ask me again in a week or so... Anyway, thank you, thank you everyone for the love and support! I know it's only day one, but it is such a comfort to me to know that if I need anything there are a dozen people around me who would gladly offer a hand or a shoulder or an ear (sounds like I'm going to start amputating, hopefully I won't need a kidney or anything). I appreciate the support and the prayers from everyone!

Storing up

the daddy time... Trying to get the last little bit of daddy time in before John leaves tomorrow. We had a back yard party last night with grilling out and party lights up and games in the back yard and sitting by the fire. This morning we went to Bob Evans for breakfast which is probably the last time we do that. Can't handle slow service with two hungry toddlers! Then went to play miniature golf at the local put-put. Firt time the kids have played, but a favorite activity for John and I when we were dating. Only one group passed us... and not so much fun with a big stroller... and boy were the go-carts tempting... maybe next time... Then we tried out the local ice cream drive up which was great and close! So John gets one last home-cooked meal tonight and watch one more Yankees game with the kids before he departs tomorrow afternoon...

Garden surprises

One of the joys or maybe frustrations of living in Army housing is finding out what the previous occupants have done with the yard & garden areas. It's been hard here because everything looks dead until now we're finally getting some green on the bushes out front. Anyway, I've been trying to plant a few things, but am impatient to see what is already planted and going to grow! I know there are a few hydrangeas and some lavender in front but I can't really tell what anything else is without leaves. I think I pulled up what was probably a ground cover yesterday with lots of spreading roots. So it will be 'Garden Surprise' and hopefully whatever I put in looks ok with it...

Swingin'

We're loving our back yard! This is the first time we've had a nicely fenced back yard since BB was a baby in Fort Bragg (then it was a yucky chain link we got from the neighbors). So we got a cheap little swingset that took us five hours to put together... Can you say team building exercise? J and I are getting much better at putting things together, together... But when I write my review online it will be 'what's wrong with putting screws in that actually fit all the way through the holes?!' Other than that, the kids are loving it and LG and LB have no problems getting up and down the slide. Along with the sandbox, kids picnic table, various balls and croquet it's a regular playground, so friends come on over! And with the firepit and comfy chairs it's great to sit back and relax while the kids run around, so friends come on over!

Hotels

Well, I think we're officially a family of rock stars based on how fast we can trash a hotel room... And LB is the leader of our band. After our stay in Syracuse last night after BB's doctor appointment, I think our days of staying in hotels are numbered. First of all, not many hotels can accomodate 6 people (even miniature ones) in one room, so they switched us from a King suite to a 2 double suite (guess how many want to sleep with mommy in a double bed?). We used to not claim the twins, but they're getting kind of hard to 'sneak' in as LB shouts with excitement at the indoor atrium and fish ponds on the way to the elevators. (Embassy Suites is pretty nice in that respect) So we get in the room and right away LB discovers the microwave conveniently located at his level. Then the table lamps (looking around my house we don't have those anymore) were the next discovery as they make a great noise when you bang on the shades and make them rock. Then the coffee pot located on the counter next to the couch. I think he and LG called the front desk a couple of times before we put the telephones inside the drawers. Bang the door between the rooms open and shut a few dozen times and run up and down the suite as fast as you can for about an hour. I took him to the pool with the big kids hoping to tire him out... Even took the long way back and fed the fish, but just as much energy when we got back in the room. So we made the bed in the 'living room' and let them watch a movie and have snacks with the big kids. LG finally wound down about 9:30 and LB was still going until about 10:15 when he finally crashed on me. We found their sippy cups and all the empty coke bottles behind the microwave this morning (don't ask me how I thought to look there), cleaned up the ice cream smeared all over the table and then went downstairs for breakfast where we got our money's worth in food. Not exactly a restful experience overall and I'm not sure how I'm going to manage it travelling this summer... Every hotel should have family suites available with just a room full of mattresses so the little crazies can bounce themselves out and a room with two twin beds for the parents so nobody else can fit in it... And sedatives in case that doesn't work...

BB's Bones

Well, the good news is BB doesn't have to have surgery right now. I guess the bad news is that his problems with his arm can't be fixed by surgery... We saw the orthopedic surgeon yesterday and after examining him and his X-rays, basically the 'bumps' are not causing his ulna to grow slower than his radius thus making his arm slightly bowed and shorter (about 1 cm right now) than his left arm. It's all related since it is problems with the growth plate. Anyway, he didn't think surgery was necessary at this point and as he put it, there's almost nothing we do with our arms the same length... So, we'll re-evaluate in a year and check on any others that might be causing problems.

Here's a little background on the condition, although if you're in my family you're probably pretty familiar with it!

An osteochondroma is a cartilage covered bony excrescence (exostosis) that arises from a surface of a bone. Osteochondromas are the most common bone tumors in children, they may be solitary or multiple, and they may arise spontaneously or as a result of previous osseous trauma. An osteochondroma can affect any bone preformed in cartilage.

The true prevalence of solitary osteochondromas is not known because many asymptomatic lesions are never diagnosed. Hereditary multiple exostoses (HME) is an inherited autosomal dominant disorder in which multiple osteochondromas are seen throughout the skeleton.

Out of the woodwork

The warm weather is bringing everyone outside! Our social boy, BB is happy to see a lot more kids outside. He's been missing his friends from Kansas a lot and this move has been harder on him than any of the other kids. The others still get so much of their socializing from us that they're happy just going to hourly care a couple times a week. BGbsays she misses Allison every few days, but she is much more of an introvert than BB is, so doesn't seem to need quite as much outside attention. It's so hard for me to sit back and let them figure things out with other kids, especially when they're struggling. I'm thankful that there are a few sweet kids near us and we're working on boundaries outside...

Wonderful Weekend

After this weekend this place isn't looking so bad! Gorgeous weather. Started out rainy Friday and Saturday but warm enough to melt a lot of snow and then yesterday around 65 degrees. BB was in the back yard with no shirt on complaining that he was hot! Showing off... Anyway, Saturday we went and picked up a grill and sandbox (we'll see how that goes, never had one before) to go with my Adirondack chairs I
put together last week. I still need to paint them, but very comfy around the fire bowl. We kind of got a late start Saturday, so we didn't get everything put together and food on the grill until about 8:30, but the kids had a blast playing in the back yard, digging in the mud and throwing croquet balls. I even got a little pink from being in the sun! Yesterday was even more beautiful, out in T-shirts, LB and BB ran around barefoot in the back yard (all of LB's shoes were wet and I can't find rubber boots for him) and they all played in the sandbox and we grilled again. No bugs yet either so it was perfect eating outside conditions. We're hoping the weather is this great for the next couple of weeks before J has to leave. Maybe it will help keep the gloomies away as we prepare for his departure...

Hopefully,

spring is almost sprung! It's been raining for two days but staying above freezing, most of the snow is gone except for a few stubborn piles and there are robins everywhere and bulbs poking up! So I'm hopeful that spring is finally coming but still expecting another cold spell. For some reason it brings out the poetry in me so I'll subject you all to another poem I found while readig:

For winter's rains and ruins are over,
And all the seasons of snows and sins;
The days dividing lover and lover,
The light that loses, the night that wins;
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten,
And in green underwood and cover
Blossom by blossom the spring begns.

--From Atalanta in Calydon
Algernon Chrales Swinburne

Braids, finally!

I braided my hair this morning and BG asked if I would do hers too. And I could do it! She is pretty excited that her hair is long enough to braid now. I'll have to put a picture study on here so you can see what I mean. Most of her hair has grown in the last year. And although she expected it to grow more as soon as she turned five (she woke up on her birthday and asked if her hair was longer), she's pretty happy that she can put hair accessories in it now.

LG's Inner Beast

LG is cutting a few teeth and has decided to release her inner beast... The last few days our sweet, smiley girl has still been pretty sweet... until she doesn't get her way... I think I'm almost deaf from the shrieking! She woke up at 4:00 yesterday morning and would not be consoled and didn't want to lay with us, so I brought her out to the living room where she climbed up on the couch, sucked her thumb for a few minutes and then went in the kitchen and pointed to the refridgerator. After some yogurt, she went back to bed and then every other child in the house filed into our room one at a time between 4:30 and 6:00. So glad we have our old queen sized bed in BG's room... When our bed fills up, I move to the secondary. Anyway, LG had a little bit better day today although still a bit grumpy when LB has something she wanted or I didn't move fast enough getting her a snack. At least she wasn't throwing herself on the floor and screaming like yesterday! Hope this doesn't last long...

BK Cheesy Tots

Advertising gone bad, to say the least... I am NOT going to try these because the ads are so gross. A guy waking up with a tongue 'erection?' I'm not really sure how that's supposed to be appetizing. And the other one where the mattress says "I can be filled with cheese too." Just eeewwww. Time to turn the TV off, get to bed and hopefully sleep and not dream of breakfast at BK.

New Template

Kind of new to this, but I thought I would try changing my template to visions of spring... A few glitches, like loosing my other HTML links but overall pretty painless. Speaking of spring, it's 55 degrees and raining! Today is also the birthday of my dad and his mom and his grandmother so I wanted to share a poem my grandmother wrote after emerging from the grief of losing her three-year-old daughter Sara in 1957. My Grandma passed away this January before she saw another spring time, but I know she is enjoying spring in Heaven as her poem states.

Heavenly Spring
by Ada Kurtti

The daffodils are blooming
And spring is on its way
The birds are singing blithely
All nature is so gay
My heart with joy is bursting
With all my eyes survey
God's power and loving splendor
In nature doth convey.

But spring's not here to stay
Neither does it long remain,
The summer's harvest gathered
Then winter comes again.
And so 'tis with my soul,
It knows winter's cold and fears,
And yearns for Heaven's homeland
With spring's ne'er ending years.

Rejoice my soul be happy
The time will one day come,
When Jesus calls His loved ones
To their eternal home.
His precious bride, His blood bought,
The spring of Heaven shall see
And dwell with God the Father,
the Son eternally.