Gingerbread Jesus

So, one of the things I love about our new place is the kitchen, and it's showing with an increase in cooking and baking again! The kids and I had a great time making a Gingerbread Nativity for the dessert table at my ladies' Bible study program on Tuesday and I just had to share 'cause I think "Gingerbread Jesus" is pretty adorable:



and the three wise guys travelling from the East:



the Holy Family with their donkey, OK so it looks a little like a unicorn, but gingerbread is not quite as easy as clay...




and the best part is that it tasted pretty good too!



and I get to do it again later this week with a couple of ladies who expressed an interest in learning how to make one! I did get the recipe from a Martha Stewart Living magazine a few years ago, but the design was for a house not a stable...

Thank you!

I love November and seeing everyone's lists of things they are thankful for and I also like writing one so on those days when I feel like complaining, I have something to come back to and remind myself of all that I have to be grateful for! So here's a list of my thank you's for this year.

Thank you God for:

getting us through this past year of transitions and moves and school changes and living together as a family again.

my husband, who despite his deep seated need for 'peace and quiet' loves us enough to keep up with our loud, rowdy bunch and a wife who likes to talk.

my Big Boy, who is mature beyond his years, still sweet and a great big brother even to other little kids. I'm thankful for his sense of humor that gets him through the tough spots.

my Big Girl, who is smart and funny and creative and can belch like a man and then laugh hysterically.

my Little Girl, who is a ray of sunshine from the moment she wakes up until the moment she doesn't get her way! Sunshine is a force to be reckoned with when it doesn't take "No" for an answer!

my Little Boy, who tries so hard to please and cannot tell a lie. Sometimes this gets him in trouble too as he hasn't yet learned that the truth hurts, but I love his candor and his imagination.

teachers who show a real interest in our children and a desire to see them succeed.

old friends I miss so much. I am thankful to have a means of communicating with through facebook and email and phone calls and an occasional letter. I'm thankful for the memories and the impact they have made in my life.

new friends and the chance to get to know more people who will become old friends!

my health improving this past year. I'm no longer on blood thinners and have been cancer free for 3 years!

my ladies Bible study group. I love getting together with 'real' ladies who aren't afraid to show who they are in Christ.

parents who had a concern and love for my eternal salvation and taught us about God's love and forgiveness.

for our recent safe travels and time spent and memories made with our family in New Jersey.

the kindness of strangers to offer us a rental home when we were visiting family for a much reduced rate!

a comfortable home and plenty of food and the means to share with others.

my family cookbook with Uncle Russ's amazing pumpkin pie recipe. I just made 6 pies, 4 ramekins and a bread pudding with what I thought would make 4 pies!

my Cuisinart and my dishwasher and an oven big enough to bake 4 pies at once! I'm thankful that the joy I get from cooking and feeding people has reappeared after a year long hiatus.

my brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews and aunties and uncles and cousins.

for Your beauty and splendor and wonderful climate to enjoy it here in Hawaii!

so much more...

Love is a Four Letter Word?

So far, LB has had a pretty rough start to his public school education. First week of school he had an 'encounter' with the counselor because he made his 'angry' face in class when his teacher wouldn't let him sit next to a little girl he wanted to be friends with. I talked to the counselor and told her, yeah, he doesn't have much of a filter, but we're working on it... Anyway, by the third week, we had a meeting with the Special Services Counselor to get him evaluated for speech therapy as his teacher and other classmates are having a hard time understanding him. However, Mrs. T has no problem understanding when he uses the word "love" and has taken exception to that and told him not to say it anymore. Kid can't catch a break! I'm not sure what the exact context was but 'love' happens to be his favorite word right now and he 'loves' everything and everyone! It's a sad world that twists an innocent 5 year old's view of liking something a whole bunch into something ugly and dirty because they have a narrow-minded view of love! Sooo, how much can we confuse a kid? No, don't show your anger and don't be too loving either! I know it's going to be a challenge teaching him honesty while still maintaining respectfulness and love towards others. I had a long discussion with him after he went up to a little kid in the dentist's waiting room the other day and pointed at him and said "I don't like you and you can't play with my toys" completely unprovoked! So I know the frustration his teacher is faced with but it still made me sad that he was told he can't use the word 'love.' It's times like this that I consider homeschooling... But, obviously I didn't do too great a job prior to this or he wouldn't be having some of these issues! I'm praying that it will work out to have a new teacher next week when we change schools. LB seemed fine with that, but wanted to take Jordan and 'Brosario' and Max with him to his new school, so at least a few kids put up with his quirks...

Back to the Blog

...maybe! Facebook has a feature on it now with updates from this day in 2010 or 2009 and I realized how much I am missing by not writing stuff down here instead. I'm not great at, ok really not good at scrapbooking or journaling or even printing many of the pictures I take, so this blog was a good source of archiving our lives for a while and I'm missing a lot! So, maybe it's time to start writing more regularly again...

So, this time last year I wrote about moving into a house and being on the housing waiting list just in case we couldn't hack it 'off post' and I'm not too proud to say we couldn't do it! We're signing for a brand new, five bedroom house on Fort Shafter on Monday morning and I'm pretty excited! Here's a few reasons why we're really looking forward to a new house and neighborhood:

1. A dishwasher! I can't express how much I have missed having one and I think the eczema on my hands will be a thing of the past also!
2. Central air conditioning. I love the climate here, but paying $500 a month to run two little window units just so we have a couple of cool rooms to hang out in when the rest of the house is a sauna is a bit crazy. And it would be nice to actually hang out as a family all in the same room on our...
3. Sofa in the living room! I've been disappointed since we discovered when our stuff arrived that we could not fit our sofa into the living room and it's been in the boys' bedroom for the last 10 months. It will be nice to not feel like I'm walking into a college student's house with a beanbag and futon in the living room.
4. Some space to spread out and a garage!
5. No more nasty white carpet that doesn't come clean!
6. Neigbor kids to play with and adult neighbors for us grown ups too! We live in a decent neighborhood, but there are not a lot of kids close by and the kids have really missed running around outside with friends. I've noticed also, that even the adults when they are home around here tend to not come outdoors much.
7. Our own driveway and outdoor space. While it's been nice having our landlords to interact with and they are great people it will also be nice to feel like we're in our 'own' house and not have to worry if we don't shut the 'compound' gate, etc...

and so that brings me to the things we will miss about living here:

1. Our lovely landlords who are really great people and really seem to enjoy our children.
2. Our outdoor planting space and all the lovely fruit trees especially the yummy lemons! I'm going to have to buy lemons again and the kids will miss their swing on the mango tree.
3. The location to the kids school and J's work has been pretty ideal. We're going to have to walk a bit further to school or maybe even pay for the bus and J will have to commute about 10 minutes but with parking will be missing his coming home for lunch that he's enjoyed this past year.
4. The kids will be leaving a pretty good school and starting at another good school, but changing schools is never easy and as BB put it the other day "I was just getting used to this school." This will be his 6th school since kindergarten and he's only in 5th grade!

There's been ups and downs to our first year in Hawaii and I will say that the transition here has been harder than any other move in the past. Maybe it's a good thing I haven't written much this past year so we can forget the hard parts and move on to enjoying the next two years here!

Random kid updates...

Riding in the car today, LG pipes up from the back seat, "Daddy, I will miss you when I grow up." J asked why and she said "because I will have my own house." She was relieved to know that she could still visit even when she has her own house and babies and 2 dogs named "Jenny and Jenny Tuesday, who is a boy dog, but Jenny is just a regular girl dog with spots." She is growing up way too fast! She wanted me to straighten her hair last night, so I obliged and this morning when she woke up she came in our room crying because her hair was curly again.

LB is keeping us BUSY! I think I've lost much of the gray hair grown when he was a two year old! We went to the zoo last week and he had a great time climbing on the rocks next to the trail through the African Savannah exhibits. So, LG asked me to take her picture on one of them and the other 3 kids went ahead to look at the baboons. In the 20 seconds that took, LB had climbed on the rocks between the baboon and lion enclosures and was spotted by a zoo official. I got him down rather quickly and he was in no real danger as he wasn't even close to the top and there was a high fence on the other side of the rocks. But as the zookeeper said when she came and yelled at me, "we don't want to tempt the lions and give them any ideas that there is something better outside their enclosure." I said, "yes, ma'am" and took a firm grip on LB's backpack harness that I had the forsight to put on him but obviously not use! Why is it that the most impulsive kids are also the fastest. It's like he has a thought and in the same moment is executing! Thankfully, his favorite part of the zoo was the koi pond with the tunnel through the middle of it, with one way out and one way in...

BB and BG had a pretty decent spring break between the pool, the zoo, the movies and lots of lazing around. They're currently tied together with a rope and working 'together' on the daily chores because they've also spent a lot of time bickering and being mean to each other! Anybody else have any ideas for getting siblings to work together? We went and watched "Rango" the other day and both of them complained about going to see what they thought was a baby movie. It was nice to see BB glued to the screen the whole time and BG enjoying it too between the bathroom breaks! When am I going to learn that they don't need drinks at the movies?

I also enjoyed "Rango" but could have done without the lizard's suicidal walk across the highway, because of course that is what LB picks up on! He asked me, "why he walking by the cars and trucks" and after he falls over unconsious "why he dead?" But at least he knows you're not supposed to walk across a highway full of cars and trucks!

The Move

I started this post before we moved back in August and it was a big complaint about how I hate moving, but couldn't really complain about it because, hello! we're moving to Hawaii and who can complain about that? Anyway, I still hate moving, but have to say that the whole experience was filled with a lot more good times than bad. Once we finally got our orders after a delay because I had to enroll in the Exceptional Family Member Program due to my health issues, things moved pretty quickly. I know, you already knew I was exceptional, right? So, we got all of our junk packed up, said some goodbyes, drove to Newark, NJ, dropped off the van and flew to Portland, spent a day at my sister's and left the kiddos with her, while J and I flew on to Hawaii. Spent a lovely 5 days on our own there driving around, looked at two houses and rented the second one. Then I flew back and spent too little time with family and brought the kids back with me. They had such a great time with all their cousins this summer! So glad to have found a house in a good neighborhood, very close to the school (BB can see our house from his classroom) and J's work as well. We haven't even bought a second car yet as he is so close he can walk home when needed. Our landlords are a very sweet, elderly Japanese couple who live behind us in the 'second' house. Mr. E was part of the 442nd Infantry Regiment and has two purple hearts and other decorations. J had a great time talking to him about being a part of history and his wife was so impressed that he was talking to someone about it! They love having the kids around although LB likes to show off for them and I think worries them a bit with his antics... Mr. E is also a great gardener and has many fruit trees around our house and a veggie garden on his little plot and a couple of prepared beds for me too, so we've got stuff planted and it's growing fast! Love having an endless growing season! Not loving the lack of central air conditioning and the cockroaches (took care of those buggers already!) So, the big kids are settling into school after a bit of a rocky start for both of them. BG didn't like feeling like she was behind at all, but seems to be caught up already and BB is saying school was 'good' when he comes home instead of 'I hate it!' They are both really missing their friends and school and neighborhood in New York and I guess that has been the biggest adjustment so far. We've been pretty sheltered, living on post for so long and just used to jumping into a neighborhood where there are lots of kids and families in the same circumstances as us. It's almost an instant bond and pretty easy to find a few people you click with. It's going to be more challenging to get out and meet people but we're working on it... I went to PWOC this week and will soon get the littles into hourly care for some socializing. I'm doing some pre-school at home with them for the time being. LG likes to take her 'homework' out when the big kids are doing their's. Also getting them all enrolled in Child and Youth Services on post so at least they'll have some activities to go to after school. And we've gone to the beach every weekend so far and trying to find our favorite. We are on the housing list for the new housing they're building near Pearl Harbor, so if we fail miserably at living 'off-post' we do have a back up plan! So we're still waiting on our stuff but I'll save the rustic living conditions for another post! In the meantime, I am sooooo missing my friends and neighbors in New York and around the world! I've mentioned before how blessed we've been to have friends move with us the last couple of moves and I am really feeling that void right now! We would love visitors, but you might want to wait until our stuff gets here...

Jersey Shore

We had such a great time last year in Ocean City, NJ, that we decided to go again this year, but for two weeks this time! It was wonderful to be able to relax and go to the beach almost every day and spend time with the Adams side of the family. Our condo was located over an ice cream shop about two blocks from the beach and boardwalk and was a really nice place with an outdoor shower for rinsing off the sand and a nice deck with a hot tub too! If you're ever looking for a great, relaxing family vacation, we highly recommend OC! Vacationrentals.com is a good resource for finding homes for rent by owners. Anyway, the kids (and J and I) loved the beach. I used to think I was more a mountain girl than a beach girl, but I think I've changed my mind. A beach cruiser is so much more my speed than a mountain bike (although I would still do that too!) and where in the mountains can you stop and get fresh bagels after your morning run? I loved running on the boardwalk with the ocean in sight. BG took a morning bike ride with me one morning and did a great job! We also rented a family surry one morning for a ride on the boardwalk down to the yummy apple cider donut shop, so good when they're fresh and hot! The kids loved hanging out with their cousins and BB and J went fishing with Pop-pop Adams out on his boat one day while the rest of us visited with Mom-mom and ran in the sprinkler. The kids also stayed at Aunt V and Uncle B's while J and I had a couple of nights out together in Atlantic City! The kids and I checked out the Cape May Zoo on a very hot Sunday afternoon while J relaxed at 'home' (he doesn't do zoos) and we got to spend Father's Day with Pop-pop, Mom-mom and the rest of the family! As usual, Pop-pop's steamed clams were great and the kids had a great time getting reacquainted with their cousins and moving Mom-mom's yard sculptures around. Overall, we had a great time, but decided two weeks is a long time to be away from home and we came back a day early! Also, learned early that it just works better for us with the ages of our kiddos to not cram too much into one day (more for our sake than the kids!). So, now we're waiting for our next adventure in Army life, which is a move to Hawaii sometime soon! Still waiting for our orders but should be moving sometime in August. I'm excited to get there and get settled, but not looking forward to the moving part and leaving our Army family here. The last couple of moves, we've been spoiled with friends moving with us and it's going to be really hard to leave them behind! Anyway, I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking if you have the time to look at them! I tend to get a little camera happy...

Next up!

J made it home safely from Afghanistan on June 3rd! We were all so happy to see him and BB was especially happy that he made it home in time for his birthday! BB said he wanted a Nerf War party, so we tried to oblige... A bunch of boys (and a couple of girls) running around in the woods with Nerf guns playing capture the flag. Our friends D and W did a great job helping organize all the younger kids. Hard for me to believe BB is 9! BG was a dancing flower in her 1st grade musical, "How Does Your Garden Grow." It was very cute and the kids all did a great job! She briefly played soccer this spring also, but after a couple of weeks started complaining of a stomach ache every time we had to go, so finally stopped fighting with her to go and focused on getting BB to baseball! He really seemed to enjoy it despite the coaching changes in the middle of the season... He mostly played First Base and the last couple of games really got into the game and tried to get the ball fielded in the right places. The little kids enjoyed going too so they could run around on the 'hills' near the ball fields! LB is also back to his hole in the backyard and playing with his guys out there again. I'm going to have to find another lock for the gate since he figured out the snap link the other day... Anyway, here's a few pics from our spring time and next update will be our vacation!

Lots to update...

...from the last couple of months! I think I'll break it into several different posts instead of trying to do my usual cram everything into one! So starting with the girls' ballet recital back in May. I did manage to get a little bit of video for each of them. LG (last ballerina on the right) was so funny trying to keep up with her steps and finally just started watching the prompter who was offstage:


Our BG was ready to be done with ballet but we had her stick it out until after the recital. I loved their bright yellow and orange outfits, such a great departure from the pink! BG started out on the far right but I had to quit filming to chase LG out of the orchestra pit where she was doing her own show...



And they both love wearing them now and had to put them on again the morning after for some bike riding

Memorial Day

has such a bigger meaning when those close to you are lost. Remembering today all those from the past who have paid the ultimate sacrifice and their families left behind. And especially remembering friends and family who have recently lost their heroes. I wish I had the words to make it better. Keeping everyone close in prayer.

If you want to add in your prayers and rememberances, here's a list of heroes fallen in combat from Afghanistan and Iraq the last few years. I know not everyone supports the efforts in these wars, but these brave men and women did and every single one of them has a family or someone who cares that they are gone from this life. Please remember them not just today on Memorial Day, but every day, and if you can, show you support them not just with a yellow ribbon stuck on your bumper but with a thank you or a charitable donation to one of the many non-profit organizations that supports servicemembers and families of the fallen. http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2004/oef.casualties/2010.05.html

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mother's out there who have the honor of having the best and sometimes the worst job in the world, many times in the same day... I've spent the day with my four little darlings, whom I thank God for letting me borrow for our time here on earth. We just did normal stuff today, slept in and snuggled a bit in my bed since 3 of them were already in it, got up and BB made me coffee while I took a shower (I showed him how to do it yesterday!) and then they gave me their sweet cards/poems/plants they made at school and we headed out for lunch at Texas Roadhouse which was a madhouse! But much of the day I've spent thinking about my mother and how much I miss her still and trying to keep her memory alive with what I tell my kids of her and what I teach them that I learned from her. Yes, she had her faults like we all do, and many of mine are a reflection of hers! She was disorganized and messy. Cleaning up the kitchen after one of her masterpiece meals was sometimes a two hour chore! I learned the 'dash and stash' method of cleaning before company from her! She was a packrat and had a terrible time making decisions about what to keep and what to throw away, so most of it got kept. She had a hard time talking about how she felt about things and I know bottled many things up inside until she would blow her top. She distrusted doctors and tended to blame her health problems on 'allergies' and would try every natural remedy she could before heading to a doctor. She would probably agree with me on most of that and would be modest about all the things she did so well and that list is so much longer than the previous:
She loved us all. She was a wonderful cook and taught us to be creative in the kitchen. She loved making people feel special by making them something whether it was dinner, a dessert, a beautiful cake, a wedding dress, a coat, a flower arrangement, or all of the above at once! When we were cleaning the garage after she died we found several gifts she had made and packaged but never quite got sent... She was spontaneous and fun and seemed to work best under pressure although not always on time. She worked hard and was well liked by her employers and co-workers. She never said you can't do that because you're a girl or not smart enough or... She was funny and witty and sarcastic and sometimes had the worst puns! She stood up for us when it was important; we didn't shop at Sears for about 10 years after they were rude to my brother and she told the employee and manager to take a hike. She had a sense of adventure which was a good thing married to my dad. He liked to go where he wanted to go and we got taken along for the ride, so she would find some redeeming point of wherever we were and could pack the best picnic lunches on short notice. She had a wonderful laugh. She believed that Jesus was her Saviour and is with him now! She loved us... I guess my hope as a mother, is that my kids will look back on their childhood and the good points will far outweigh the bad and that most of all they will know they were loved!

Continuing theme....

in many conversations now is when is daddy going to be home and how much we miss daddy and LG seems to be bringing it up the most... So, yesterday while at BBs baseball practice, LG is trying to get a friend's dad to play with her (he looks like J from behind!) and then she came over to me and said 'can I have a new daddy?' and I said 'nope, you're stuck with the one you got' and then BG chimed in that 'we can have a step-daddy!' and my response even though my heart is breaking inside, is 'no way, that would be way too much work for Mommy!' as the ladies behind me are giggling... So bittersweet the way they can look at things. I know they are missing their dad so much, just as I am, but just don't understand why he can't be here. I'm not (usually) one to whine about our circumstances especially when it's our decision to live this crazy, wonderful, mostly rewarding life, but I do worry at times about the effect it's having on our children. J is an awesome dad and husband and we love him and miss him so much when he's gone and I try to keep things constant and you would think it would get easier the more times we do it, but each seoeration seems to be harder than the last! The kids are doing fine overall and I know they'll bounce right into J's arms and won't let go for a few days when he gets back (hopefully next month!) and we're definetly keeping busy until then, maybe a little too busy...

I'm usually not one to get the kids into a ton of activities all at once, because I really don't like having to rush around and get them from one thing to the next and I just think our kids don't get enough time to just play, but for some reason we've got too many things going right now! The girls still have ballet until the end of the month when they have their recital (on Memorial Day weekend, whose idea was that?) and BB is playing baseball T and TH and BG is playing soccer M and W. Not that big a deal since they are only an hour each day, but that little bit of extra has thrown my already disorganized self into turmoil! I have a reminder on my phone for all my appointments (which is great if I put them in there) so my little beep went off at 4:35 yesterday and we were supposed to be in Watertown (20 minutes away) at 5:00 for ballet photos... in costume, and BB had baseball practice at 6:30. So I called my friend whose son is on BB's team and she agreed to take him, so he had to get his stuff together and walk down the street, then I had to get the girls and LB in the van with all their costume stuff and tights and shoes, ran back inside a couple of times for hair things, brush and my phone and camera. BG changed in the car on the way there and I threw LG's costume on her in the parking lot and rushed her in there just in time for the group photo of her class!
Of course my nerves are jangling and LB keeps trying to run out of the studio while I'm trying to get BG's hair done and check written to pay for pictures. But, photos are done, BB made it to practice and we stopped at McDs for dinner. Think I'll do some menu planning this weekend so I can actually have dinner made before we head to practice next week! And I already changed the reminder time on my calendar and it makes a louder noise now too... I love how LG is looking up to BG in this picture and trying to be just like her!


The littles and I also visited a local greenhouse this week and picked up a few more plants to stick in our pots. Of course it's supposed to snow again this weekend (or wintry mix) so I'll have to bring them in again but since we still don't know anything about where we're going or when, I'm going to have a few plants to enjoy while we are here! Here's a picture of the pansies in the greenhouse and who could resist buying those. The smell was awesome too, almost wanted to eat them!



LG has been in dandelion heaven lately also! She loves picking them and anytime we're outside and passing some, she has to stop and grab a handful. On the way into church last Sunday she was offered several jobs to come clear some lawns...



BG was helping pick too and she is wearing one of my old dresses that my mom made for me one Christmas. I don't remember if I was in first or second grade, but the dress is definetly well worn!





I'm so happy things are finally green again here! We are supposed to freeze again this weekend and there's a high wind advisory for tomorrow, but at least it's green! We've seen a bunch of deer again and lots of turkeys and some other wildlife too. I want to go look for the beavers that are supposed to be here on post also, but don't really want to chance LB falling in the lake, so I'll save that for a day when J can come with us...

Driving in the car

always brings up the best conversations... We were coming home from soccer practice and LG said "I want Daddy, right now!" So then we talked about when he was going to be home and BB said "It will be National Ride on Daddy's Shoulders Day when he gets home and Daddy will let me drink coke all day and buy used games at Gamestop every time we go to the PX." BG said, "Daddy will play games with me and watch me ride my bike." and LG said, "Daddy gives me marshmallows, not big ones, little ones like in my hot cocoa!" and then she said, "I want Daddy!" again. LB didn't join in because he fell asleep on our walk through the woods during soccer practice... Anyway, we all miss the daddy, but I'm glad they're thinking of all the stuff they get to do with him when he does finally come home.

Other than missing J, we've been keeping busy with various springtime activities, although if we get another snowfall like yesterday, I may have to revoke spring as my favorite season... BB is playing baseball and BG is playing soccer so we've got practice 4 days a week with the sports. BG and LG are also still doing ballet on Saturdays with a recital the end of May and BB is still taking piano lessons and actually enjoying practicing! LB's main activity is still running his mother ragged... We've also started attending a local church most Sundays and it's great how quickly the kids pick up a habit. I didn't even tell them last Sunday and they were up and ready to go! I bowled for the last time yesterday for the league I'm in and can say that although still inconsistent, my average improved quite a bit over the last few months and so did my other teammates' so we went from 8th place to 2nd!

We're still waiting to hear if/when we will be moving away from here and getting a little frustrated with the not knowing what's going on. I'm trying to stop myself from going crazy planting a huge garden if I'm not going to get to enjoy it! But I think it's a compulsion to plant stuff...

I love this age...

the twins are at now! Three and a half and they make me laugh every day in wonder at the things they come up with and how their little minds work and I'm really enjoying their company. Maybe because they have each other to talk to and play with, it takes a little of the pressure off me to keep them occupied and interested in whatever game they are playing. LB likes to hand me a sword (be it a stick or a straw or any other sword shaped thing) and sword fight but then runs off and finds LG or big brother to play with also. He can play with his playmobil guys for hours at a time and I love listening to the stories he makes up for them. He and LG played in the bathtub for 2hours this afternoon making stuff up with playmobil guys, barbies and polly pockets. They had a couple of merpeople so I heard him ask "where are you mermommy, your merbaby is here?" "Let's go in our mercastle now." He does like to be specific in his wording. And LG is quick to have an answer for him although she likes to tease him too, with an answer she knows he won't agree with or pretending to 'sleep' complete with snoring, when he wants her character to do something...

BB and BG are at a great age now too, not that I didn't like them at other ages, but they are getting more independent all the time and they have been a big help with the littles since J has been gone again the last couple of months. They are both doing great in school and just brought home their report cards last week with no major issues. Both are liking reading now and BB is starting to read books that I like too! I read the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series (except the last one) before I let him have them, just because I liked them and didn't want to be interrupted! They both want to be outside now that there is no snow on the ground and I have a hard time getting them to do their chores and homework first, mainly because I want to be outside too!

A 'conversation' came up today on facebook about falling short as a parent and how we think other people are doing so much better than we are as parents. And it was refreshing to see people confessing their shortcomings in that area and realizing that there are no perfect parents out there. And if you think you're perfect, just ask your kids! I can certainly say that there are so many days that I feel like a failure to my kids because they ate cereal for dinner... again, or I don't read to them or play with them enough or discipline consistenly enough or sometimes have to call 3 different houses to locate my 8 year old or I'm not teaching them to pick up after themselves or my LB isn't potty trained yet or I yelled at them for no reason or they spent too much time with a babysitter this week or it's 10 pm and none of them are asleep yet or... the list goes on and on and on... but God is the one perfect parent and He trusted us with these precious lives and even gave instructions for raising them in His Word and lets me know that I'm not alone and if I will but trust in Him, He will give me the strength every day to try again. I often pray 'thank you God for these beautiful children but please help me not to ruin them!' So next time you're feeling like everyone else is a better parent, just take a look at my list up there and know that many others have one just like it, whether they admit it or not!

Just a few things that made me laugh...

The twins are talking a lot now and so I hear the funniest things sometimes! Thought I would share a few while I still remember them:

LG's favorite movies: "Snow Wipe" and "Sleeping Booty"
LB's favorite movie: "Gumbo"
LB is pretending to be a 'vampirate' and bit LG on the hand this morning.
The vacuum cleaner was on the stairs with the cord going down and LB said "I need to climb the mountain" and tried to rappel down the cord... Fortunately he had a light hold and didn't bring the vacuum down too!
LG on food: "Abocados make me happy, Mommy!" "I like peas in my mouth!"
and LG will start a conversation with anyone, usually about her hair... because she likes 'blowing' hair which means long.

That's about all I can remember right now; they keep me laughing so I'm sure there's more to come!

Thankful for...

so many things. Here's a little list of my 'thanks' for this year:

-Thankful that my husband is safely home at the head of our table this year
-Thankful for all the husbands and daddies who are not able to be home with their families this year.
-Thankful for good friends to spend the holiday with and hope that next year maybe we'll both have a husband at home!
-Thankful that my mom was such an awesome cook
-Thankful that my children are enjoying their piano lessons
-Thankful for techonology that allows us to keep up with family and friends in this far apart world
-Thankful for my little twins who are learning so fast and so much and even thankful for the messes sometimes because I know they won't last and I'll miss this time soon enough
-Thankful for my big boy who does so much to help and is such a good brother to his siblings
-Thankful for my big girl who is smart and wise beyond her years
-Thankful that we are all healthy
-Thankful for good health care and doctors
-Thankful for my family even though I miss them so!
-Thankful for my friends who have become family
-Thankful for the love of my husband
-Thankful for the love of God, his mercies and blessings and his Son, my salvation.

F is for... football, fall, fun, friends, family and food!

Wow, it's been a while since I've written anything here! Facebook is probably to blame as it's so nice to keep in touch with everyone that way. Anyway, we've had a busy fall and the first flakes of snow just fell this morning so winter is here! BB had a great first season of Pop Warner football as his team was undefeated. He played right tackle (#28) all this season and is looking forward to trying something new next year. He would rather be able to tackle someone instead of "just blocking!" It was exciting for us to watch him play but also a little sad for me as he's growing up so fast.

It was a beautiful fall here and we went for a little drive one Sunday in October while John was at home sick just to look at the beautiful colors and then stopped at the Burrville Cider Mill for some fresh apple cider doughnuts and cider and then playing at Thompson Park at the great playground they have there. Tried to have a picnic also, but it was just too blustery.

We've all been having fun with new friends and old. BG is excited to be a part of the local Nutcracker production this year mainly because her friend is in it and she gets to kick her leg over a mouse's head in her part as a soldier. She plays two boy parts but isn't too upset about not getting to wear a fancy dress and she even wears jeans a few times a week now! LG on the other hand is turning into a pink monster. I took her and LB shopping with me the other day and told them we were getting jeans for BB and LB and she said "and I want a skirt!" and was very put out that I wasn't considering getting her something fancy to wear. She's so cute with her reasoning, it's hard not to give in to her every request! She woke up from her nap in the car yesterday and said "I'm happy, Mommy!" BB is happy that some of his friends from our old street live closer to us on our new street so he gets to play with them more often. And I'm happy to have known a couple of friends long enough now that we can tell each others' stories to other people. I think it's sweet when a friend finishes your story with a sense of pride in what you've accomplished or a struggle you've gone through.


Halloween was a lot of fun this year with the little kids getting into it. LG said for a month out that she was going to be a 'black cat' and LB kept changing his mind until settling on a pirate. BB was a scarecrow and I have blisters on my fingers from the hot glue! Who knew it would be that difficult? BG decided to be a witch since LG was a black cat. It was fun to watch the little kids trying to understand trick or treating. LB really got into and ran between each house and told everyone 'I'm a pirate' while LG took her time looking at people and asking when are we trick or treating and when we told her we ARE trick or treating she laughed and said 'OHHH!' Several times last week LB put his pirate hat on and said he was going out to get some candy... and I'm glad it's mostly gone! When I picked them up at pre-school on Tuesday, his teacher said "LB was in rare form today." Apparantly he flooded the bathroom when he was in there washing his hands and wasn't very responsive to usual commands. Have some more candy...



In other food news, I've been trying some different things to cut down our grocery costs. I finally got a good waffle iron and I love it. Even took a picture of it with a stack of waffles ready to go in the freezer! No more Eggo's here. I just make extra batter whenever we have waffles and freeze the rest. I also made a bunch of meals using my new cookbook called "Fix it, Freeze it, Feast" based on recipes using warehouse club portions. So I've got a bunch of burritos and a couple of lasagnas, cheeseburger pie, pasta sauce, and chicken cordon bleu in the freezer. That, along with the case of pizza dough balls, and we've been eating well and fewer groceries needed and less fast food too! Oh, and this apple pie was so yummy I just had to take a picture of that too!

Since my last post on here I also had my body scan done for the thyroid cancer and it came back negative for any thyroid or cancer tissue left in my neck or elsewhere in my body! I won't need another scan for a year and then I won't have to withdraw from my Synthroid as I've had to for the last two scans. Yay for that! I need my energy and focus! I'm also finally in the therapeutic range for the Coumadin which means I don't have to have my finger pricked every week but now once a month. I was scheduled on 1 Dec for my next visit with my doctor and their office called me yesterday afternoon to reschedule because my doctor passed away suddenly on Tuesday. So sad for his family and all of his patients. He hadn't been my doctor for long, but I saw more of him in the last few months than any other doctor previously and I will greatly miss him and I thank him for saving my life this summer!

That about sums up the last couple of months here. That was nice to actually write a paragraph or two instead of a one line 'update,' maybe I'll do it again sometime soon!

I got a little teary eyed...

the first few plays of the game today! I wasn't expecting watching BB play football for the first time to be such an emotional experience. He just looked so big (he's one of the biggest on his team) and serious and focused and not at all like my little blond clown that he was a few short years ago when he first played soccer. I do think J is right that football is unlike any other sport. There are just so many different things going on at once that require everyone to do their job correctly for the whole team to succeed and I must say that our team was very successful today! Our coaches deserve a lot of credit as it's not easy teaching 32 7-9 year olds, many like BB whom have never played before, and getting them to work together. Anyway, after the initial emotional overload, it was a great day watching them play all the other teams in the league who they will meet on the field in the coming weeks. Thankfully, it was overcast for most of the day or we would have been pretty miserable watching with the other three munchkins. The part I don't really appreciate is the long drawn out closing ceremony when everyone is tired and ready to go home...

Other than football every evening, we've been enjoying the warm summer weather! Finally enough sunshine for me although the humidity the last couple of days has kept a lot of people indoors! The littles had their pre-school classes out at the pond/park this week so we spent a little bit of time out there and watched LB be a big stinker to his teachers. He was not happy coming out of the water and let them know it! He's been very independent lately and gave us a scare when we told him to go get in the bath with BG and LG and he went to the other bathroom and started his own instead. He did do it correctly and the water temp was fine, but still scary. He has also made a couple of little 'pools' in the back yard with the hose and his hands and will play out there for hours with his guys and sticks and rocks and he has to take his clothes off too! I just put sunscreen on him before he's dressed... Luckily, we're not too concerned about how the back yard looks right now with half of it needing to be reseeded anyway.

We also did a lot of running around last week getting kids registered for a new school, picking up school supplies and clothes and back and forth to a couple of doctors for me. It was nice to be able to do that now without having to pick J up for lunch or drop him off in the morning since we found a car for him! We've had just one car for a about 6 years, but J's been gone for over half of that so it didn't make sense for us to have a car sit in the driveway, but now with kids activities and all the appointments I need to get to it's been pretty inconvenient running back and forth... Anyway, we found a 97 Pontiac Grand Prix at the right price that runs pretty good even if it has a bit of rust. Hard to find a used vehicle around here that doesn't have rust!

I did get to see a pulmonoligist this week and a checkup with my new primary care manager. The lung doc is fairly certain the hormones (bc pills) were the cause of the blood clot in my leg back in May, which broke off in small pieces and moved to my lungs. His prognosis is I will be on Warfarin for at least six months, re-evaluate then and after I'm off I'll have some specialized bloodwork done to see if I have some other clotting disorder. Still a lot of swelling in my right leg probably due to some damage to the blood vessel or a valve. The compression stocking is helping as long as I put it on first thing in the morning before it starts swelling. And I am feeling tons better although still not much stamina. I got the go ahead to start exercising again so looking forward to at least walking! Guess I won't be running a half-marathon later this fall as we planned on... I was lamenting that I haven't been able to run this whole summer when the weather's been nice and soon enough it will be snowing and I really don't enjoy cold weather running. Thankfully, since I'm still alive, I'll look forward to it next year! And we live right down the street from the gym with free childcare now, so no excuses this winter!

There was another post-wide yardsale yesterday and we managed to get rid of a few things. A couple of things I'm going to put on Craigslist and the rest is going to the Urban Mission. Slowly getting the house put together although not much done last week with my new-found two car freedom! I did paint a couple of walls in the house recently and looking to do a bit more this week so we can get the pictures littering the dining room up on the wall. I'll post pictures when it's all done, hopefully before Christmas... I do love painted walls though! Makes the house more 'ours' I always think. And I always like visiting everyone else's houses on the street. Even though we all have the same floorplans, our houses are always as individual as we are and I love seeing the differences. So, invite me in!

Oh, yeah, the twins turned three on the 7th! Can't believe how big they are and how much they're talking and acting like such big kids. We just had a little family party and they blew out the candles on their cake, well mostly LG blew and LB tried... Anyway, here's a few pics from the last couple of weeks.

Summertime...

and it's about time to update this! I've got a bunch of pictures to go with also so they'll do some of the talking... We started the summer with BB turning 8 years old and a backyard birthday party before we moved from our other neighborhood and before a bunch of friends moved on also. Then both BB and BG played soccer and they both enjoyed it for the first few games and then BG lost interest... We ended up missing the last couple of games because one or both of them was sick and then we moved and it was too much to do. I'm a terrible soccer mom... and I hate bringing snack too! Anyway, on to moving into our brand new house and trying to get everything unpacked before we headed to Ocean City, NJ for a week at the beach. Not everything got done, but we had a great time at the beach or the shore as it's called here on the East coast. We got to spend some time with the Adams side of the family, playing with cousins and fishing with Pop-pop and J and I even got a night out in Atlantic City while the kids stayed at Aunt Vicky's (or as LG says, Aunt Wicky). We had a great time in our rented house which was about a block from the beach and the start of the boardwalk. The weather was wonderful, the ocean just cold enough and the food was fabulous. Cheesesteaks and pizza and fresh donuts in the morning. We had a great deli and ice cream shop just around the corner. Yes, I gained a couple of pounds back... Anyway, it was the perfect relaxing vacation without a lot of demands to go see and do stuff and just what we needed to spend some time together just being.

It seems the past few years it wouldn't be summertime in our house if I didn't spend at least a few days in the hospital... I had time to reflect on that as I was laying in the hospital the last 5 days with blood clots in my lungs and leg. Not really my idea of a great vacation but here's how it went down: the end of May I was having issues with allergies/sinus infections and I also had an unexplained cramp in my leg, so I went to my Dr and told her about it and that I was also periodically coughing up blood with the mucus. So she prescribed an antibiotic for the sinus infection and sent me for an ultrasound on my leg to rule out a blood clot which came back negative for a blood clot. Shortly after I finished my antibiotics I started walking again and was having a hard time breathing when I exercised. Then we moved and I was still having difficulty breathing during exertion and thought it was just because of allergy stuff still going on. We went on vacation and when we got back the drainage in my throat was worse again and I was coughing blood still so I went back to the Dr and saw the Nurse Practitioner who prescribed me some more allergy medicine and told me the shortness of breath and blood was from the mucus buildup at the top of my windpipe. About a week later (last Wed) I was hanging some flowerpots and I got down from the chair and moved it and all the sudden I couldn't breath. I made it in the house and BB got J and I was on the floor almost passed out but recovered pretty quickly. Scared me, but we still were thinking it's allergy related or maybe I was developing asthma from that. So the next day I was really tired and weak and my leg started hurting that evening and by the next morning I had a painful knot in my leg and decided it was time to go to the ER! So, turns out I had a blood clot in my leg and a whole bunch of little ones in both my lungs. They started me on blood thinners (heperin) and coumadin and kept me there until today when the levels of coumadin in my blood reached the 'right' levels. So there's my drama for the summer. Really, I would love to skip it this year...

J did a great job keeping the kids happy the last few days and the kids did a great job not giving daddy too hard a time! When they picked me up today, both LB and LG said they wanted to go to the doctor with mommy, so it's going to be tough getting out of their sight anytime soon! And it was great listening to BB describe life with daddy: "you have to do this and this and this before you can play outside!" Anyway, the next couple of weeks will be busy with daily blood tests for a while and switching to a new primary care manager because I'm a bit distressed that my doctors didn't recognize the signs of a potentially life threatening condition. Anyway, thanking God for his constant mercy and blessings towards me and my family and also thankful for the wonderful friends and family I've been blessed with.

15 Years Ago Today

I wed the love of my life! I would post a picture, but I can't find my camera cables in the mess of unpacking... Anyway, I'm happy to say that God has been good to us the last 15 years with many blessings and brought us through many trials and I can't wait to see what the next 15 years and beyond holds in store for us!