Almost Here

Dan just called and is getting on an earlier flight. He'll be in Baltimore at NOON!!!!

Taking the Clowns to the Circus

The Barnum and Bailey Circus is in Baltimore for 2 weeks and we have tickets for next weekend. When I showed the kids the little video clip on the website about the circus, Caden started crying. He didn't want to go. I was devastated and having memories of Disney. We talked about how fun it would be. I offered to buy him hearing protection, glow sticks and cotton candy (which btw I've brainwashed my kids too well. When I suggested cotton candy to Caden and told him it was like spun sugar, he said "Sugar is bad for you. You shouldn't eat it." LOL.) Anyway, we've kept talking about it and yesterday I figured out the problem. We were planning our shopping outing w/o the girls for today when he says "I'll be brave and I won't even be scared or cry on the ride in the ball." Huh?!?!? And then it dawned on me...he watched the little video and saw a segment with motorcycles racing inside a big sphere. He thought it was a ride he was going to have to go on. After another circus talk, he now understands that we'll be sitting in the stands watching (like Fantasia and the Lion King Show at Disney World). We've looked at the video again with his new perspective and he thinks it's going to be lots of fun. He's looking forward to seeing the elephant that paints. Problem solves...fear removed and yea, I get to take my clowns to the circus!

Late With the Leprechauns

I'm only 2 weeks late with this story, but I did not want to forget to tell it since it's so cute. The beginning of March, Caden's teacher told his preschool class all about Leprechauns: how sneaky they are, how they have pots of gold, and how if you catch one, they have to give you their gold. Well, that day, when the kids were outside playing, the Leprechauns came into their room and created quite the mischief. They knocked over chairs, dumped a bucket of books and even played with the toys. Caden came out of school that day talking all about the sneaky Leprechauns. He tried his best to find one in our house (even snapping pictures behind his back), but in the end, decided that the Leprechauns lived only at his school. They Leprechauns continued to play in his classroom when he wasn't there until St. Patrick's Day (also known as "Green Day" to Caden). On Green Day, they did all sorts of St. Patrick's Day activities. During the art project, Caden developed quite an elaborate plan to catch a Leprechaun. Miss Heather said he was so serious as he explained it to her and that it was well thought out with the trap and using gold glitter as bait (we watch way too much Scooby Doo). The kids came back into the room too quickly after playing and scared the Leprechauns. They didn't see them, but the Leprechauns had to hide so fast that they dropped their gold for the kids to find. I wish I had had a camera to capture the facial expressions...pure excitement...GOLD! Since St. Patrick's Day, Caden wants to wear his "green outfit" all the time. He'll wear it for 3 days in a row before I put my foot down and tell him it has to be washed. He had been sure the Leprechauns would come back to school, but now he's decided to agree with Mommy that they must have gone back to Ireland until St. Patrick's Day next year!

Miss Heather gets a gold star for the St. Patrick's day fun and excitement!

And Our Next Stop Is...

Dan received an email and they indeed have him slated for an ILE slot at Ft. Leavenworth, KS for August 2010. It's the year long school for Major - similar to what we did at Ft. Lee for Captain. It's nice to know this far in advance where we are going next for sure, but a little scary with the housing market the way it is. We are praying for a major turn around in our area so that we don't lose quite so much money when we put our house on the market next summer.

Feeling Better and Other Ramblings

I'd say everyone was feeling better. Caden started his day with dry toast, but quickly moved onto other things. He even tried the girls' pepperidge farm raisin bread today and he likes it. Silly boy! He also has decided he likes eggs as long as they are on french toast (in the batter). He told me today eggs are a vegetable and he was proud that he's eating vegetables now. Of course, Mommy knows nothing and he's totally right when he disagreed after I told him eggs are not vegetables.

Jaelyn felt good enough this evening to pitch a bedtime tantrum. It lost her about 40 tickets out of her cup over 30 minutes. It's been a week since her last one. Dr. W is right; they are getting worse in intensity, but are lessening in frequency and in length so that's a positive. She's not getting the negative attention she normally gets from me by stomping and screaming. I know our neighbors hate us, but I can't care. I can't let it bother me. She's moved on to pushing and hitting at me and it infuriates her when I tell her calmly "We don't hit people. You just lost 5 tickets out of your cup and there will be other consequences when you are calm." Slowly but surely I think changing my behavior and reaction to her is going to help her change her behavior. Instead of feeding the tantrum tonight, other than talking when she was hitting at me, I totally ignored her and tucked Caden and Allie into bed like she wasn't even there. It makes me want a coke and M&Ms when it's all through from the stress I feel inside, but I'm managing to maintain my calm on the outside and that's so important.

And the Date is...

...Tuesday! Dan will be here on Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, TUESDAY!!! And the fact that he left my birthday present in Iraq doesn't deflate my excitement at all! Well, maybe it's because I've decided he can buy me jewelry while he's here to make up for it :p! LOL!

Oh No!

Caden threw up all over his bed last night. Poor guy was crying for me and all he wanted was for me to wipe his chin. I do pretty well with most kid stuff, but throw up...not so good. When he was still in a crib and we were figuring out his allergy/drainage issues, I'd literally ball the crib sheet up, throw it in the trash, and buy new ones. It's not quite so cheap with twin bedding. He slept in the sleeping bag on my floor over a waterproof pad most of the night. He coughed a few times that had me jumping up, but seems to be okay now. If his dry toast this morning stays down, we'll try real food in a little bit. We switched to Zyrtec for his allergies. It just can't keep up with his drainage from this crazy weather (25 at night and 65 in the day one day and then 35 in the day the next). I'm sure it's the drainage that caused the throwing up...at least I hope it is. I'm lysoling my entire house just encase.

On a totally silly topic, don't you think they should invent a lysol bomb that works like a bug bomb. You set it off and leave and let it kill all the germies in your house - no scrubbing or spraying required! I think someone could make a fortune on one!

Jaelyn's Getting Sick???

Tuesday night, Jaelyn went to bed with a 100 degree fever. It was still up a little Wednesday morning, but I sent her off to school with a dose of tylenol and she did fine. She was fine this morning as well. She came home growly today from school (not sure if that's a word, but she was growling at everyone). I did all I could to keep her happy, but she just wasn't. She didn't eat any of her dinner she ordered (grilled cheese, a pickle and chips please Mommy) and then complained of a headache. She took a warm bath and climbed into bed with a book at 6. That's so unlike Jaelyn. She didn't have a fever, but I did manage to get cold medicine and tylenol down her. She's sniffling and coughing so I'm guessing the headache is from sinuses. She was fast asleep by 6:30. I know she must feel bad to ask to go to bed at 6. I hope she feels better soon because Dan has started his trip home. He should be in Baghdad now. He thinks he'll be flying here on Monday, but he probably won't know until he gets to Kuwait. I can't believe we've finally made it to his mid-point R&R!!!!!

My Day

I turned 36 yesterday. That used to seem so old. It still does actually. I don't feel 36 - 4 short years away from...GASP...40 ! For weeks, I've been telling the kids all I wanted for my birthday was a peaceful day. On Tuesday night, they knew Wednesday was my birthday, but somewhere in dreamland it seemed to have slipped their little bitty minds. My crabs all got up at 6. I don't think we've had such a crabby morning in a long time. Yuck. Jaelyn actually told me on her way to the bus stop that she wanted me to forget about the morning and we'd start over on my peaceful day in the afternoon. LOL.

Caden ran errands with me and then I dropped him off at a friends house for some "lonely time." Thank you, friend. I went to Longhorn for lunch. They gave me a corner booth all by my lonesome and I sat, read my book and ate lunch (lick your fingers good ribs) in peace. The best part...I didn't have to cook or wash the dishes afterwards! It was a wonderful birthday lunch. Pre-kids, I would have considered having lunch by myself on my birthday really pathetic, but not these days. It's a true luxury!

Before picking up Caden, I stopped at Best Buy to buy my birthday present. Thank you Mom and Dad, Joan and Larry, and Nana and Daddy Doe. I am now the proud owner of a video camera that I can actually get the videos off of! I'm excited. It's something I've wanted for a good 2-3 years, but there's always been something that we needed worse than a camera. I haven't had the opportunity to play with it too much, but I have the weekend before Dan's homecoming to figure it out!

The kids came home from school happy, if not a bit rambunctious. So much so, that I donned earplugs during dinner and sat by myself at the craft table. Oh well, at least they were happy and not crabby. I put them in bed right at 7 and everyone was asleep by 7:20. I did get my birthday peace - it just didn't happen until everyone was asleep :p.

The Days Are Flying

Time is passing quickly which is good I guess. The night I was expecting the explosion turned out pretty good. It was the next two nights that were horrible. Jaelyn lost several outings for us because it. I guess I should be happy. She made it 8 days without a major incident.

Today has been nice though and I'm happy for that. Bedtime last night was early, for them and me, and I think getting enough sleep makes a big difference all around. This afternoon we loaded our bikes in the car and headed to a nearby park that has 2 miles of bike trails. The kids had a good time. My goal this week is to get my bike fixed and to buy a bike rack for the back of the van so I don't have to walk behind them. Jaelyn is still zipping away on her 2 wheeler like Evil Knievel. I offered to take Allie's training wheels off of her bike, but she flat out refused. She says she'll do it when she's 6 (think she knows that's just a few weeks away :p). Caden loved his new big boy bike we bought him this week. My kids are growing up so quickly.

Jaelyn read her first chapter book this weekend - Dolphins at Daybreak in the Magic Treehouse Series. She's already requested I check out several more from the library for her.

Dan will be home in a week and a half for his 2 week R&R. We can't wait!!!!

Hard Day Ahead - Warning

Today is going to be a hard day, I'm afraid. Jaelyn had a rough time going to bed last night and didn't go to sleep until 9. When I went to bed before 11, Caden was coughing. He coughed until around 1 when he got in the sleeping bag in my room and finally settled down to real sleep. Allie woke at 5 with a wet bed and toss and turned in my bed until Jaelyn got up and turned on her light at 6. I have a pulled muscle/pinched nerve in my neck so I was awake most of the night anyway. It's now after 6:30 and I'm predicting a tired, whiny day with benadryal and an early bedtime to finish it off!

Love Letters

Raymond, the little boy Allie was pining over in the fall, moved away. No need to sit and be sad, Allie's found a new guy. She wrote him a note this afternoon. Don't you just love the picture with the hearts and rainbows. She's the big figure, he's the little one. Alex's twin brother Jack is in Allie's class.

Another day, she wrote him a note that said (I'm correcting for grammer and spelling) "Jack's brother Alex. He hugged me at school on the playground at school. Love Alex and Love Allie."

Jaelyn is going to be all about teenage rebellion I'm afraid. Allie is going to be all about the boys!!!!

Caden's Poem

Allie's Funky Dance

The Cheerio Story

Who Needs a Patch of Sunlight...

when you have a heater vent!

Zac has become quite the snuggle bug kitty. He always lays with me in the evenings after the kids have gone to sleep. He follows me to bed and if he isn't curled up right by my face, he's normally somewhere on my legs. Kitty companionship might be a little pathetic, but I sure do love it! Zoe wants to be sweet. She's always right there, but she can't stand to let you pet her for too long. It's like she has tactile defensiveness (yes, I've read too many books about post-institutionalized children). The only times she's really loving is in the morning when she's begging for wet food. Then, she curls right up next to me and just purrs. I'm positive, in time, she's going to become a snuggle bug like Zac. Until then (and Dan comes home), I have my Zacapooh (as Allie calls him) to keep me warm.

Table for 7 Please

My friend Kelley and I took our kids to dinner at Cracker Barrel tonight. It think it was her first time out like that with baby Brianna. It was very reminiscent of the time Jennifer and I went with 7 kids by ourselves. The kids were great. They seated us at the big round table in the back near the kids' sized checker table. The kids ate and played very nicely with the checkers. When anyone got bored, there was Baby Brie to keep everyone entertained. It's amazing how entrancing something that just lays and sleeps can be even to children. There were a few conversation starts that didn't get finished, but for the most part, Kelley and I finished complete thoughts! Amazing. Caden and I had picked Alyssa up after lunch and had her in the afternoon. I love having her here because she's a great playmate for Caden. I folded 3 loads of laundry and watched last night's Bones while they played in the basement. Kelley took a nap. We decided we should do play dates once a week because even when someone has both kids, it's like having a break since they play together and don't require the adult to play with them!

What Do My Kids Think of Me?

My friend Kate had this on her blog. I thought it was cute so I copied it.

1. What is something mom always says to you?
J - Don't hit.
C - I love you
A - I love you
(This one is pretty telling. Even though I tell Jaelyn "I love her" as much as the other kids, she internalizes the negative more.)

2. What makes mom happy?
J - When I do not do stuff that's bad or pitch a tantrum
C - Writing
A - Giving her a kiss

3. What makes mom sad?
J - When I do stuff I'm not supposed to do
C - When somebody puts a needle in her
A - When someone hurts her.

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
J - Telling me silly jokes
C - by doing silly stuff
A - By tickling me

5. What was your mom like as a child?
J - When Mommy was a baby, she may have not had any hair
C - Mommy liked cats.
A - She played with her mommy

6. How old is your mom?
J - Mommy is 35 (she's right)
C - I don't know...4.
A - I don't know...88 years old???

7. How tall is your mom?
J - 5 feet
C - This tall with his hand on my head.
A - This big holding her had as high as it'll go

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
J - be by herself when it's nice and peaceful
C - playing in the snow
A - Lay in bed

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
J - She sews. She reads her book or she gets on the computer and types
C - work at home
A - Have emails.

10.If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
J - Being good to the children (ha)
C - ?
A - for being happy

11. What is your mom really good at?
J - at cooking dinner
C - getting something down that's really high up
A - making good food

12. What is your mom not good at?
J - making me dinner that I won't eat
C - Making cracks go away in the house (our ceiling has a thin, long crack)
A - being mad at Jaelyn

13. What does your mom do for a job?
J - she helps me
C - screaming for help
A - paint in Lyssie's room for the baby

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
J - chicken
C - chicken
A - corn on the cob
(Can you believe no one said chocolate? It is by far my favorite food. I think they should add a seperate food group for it, as a matter of fact.)

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
J - mommy is the best mom
C - When mommy says "I love you"
A - getting me a present for christmas because I love presents

16. If your mom were a Super Hero, who would she be?
J - Supergirl
C - Elasta Girl
A - Elasta Girl
(We joke that I'm not Elasta Girl a lot. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to stretch your arms like that? I can think of so many times it would come in handy)

17. What do you and your mom do together?
J - play boggle together
C - sit together
A - play hide and go seek

18. How are you and your mom the same?
J - our hair is the same
C - We both have on blue
A - Our hair is alike

19. How are you and your mom different?
J - I'm small and she's big
C - Mommy has long hair and I have short hair.
A - our eyes are different

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
J - When daddy tells her funny jokes
C - I don't know
A - That he gave her her rings

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
J - Longhorn
C - to Chuckie Cheeses (NOT)
A - to Disney World

Weekly Update

Life is moving quickly, it seems.

This week has definitely had it's share of ups and downs. Monday was good - I had an Ikea outing with friends. That always lifts my spirits. Tuesday was long because Allie has ballet. I was smart. Since I am always rushing homework and dinner, I got online in the day and scheduled a pizza delivery. The doorbell rang at 4:30 on the dot with dinner. That's going to become our standard Tuesday night dinner from now on. It was just too easy. Jaelyn started her rumbling when we left ballet and was in full tantrum mode by the time we got home. I know she's been tired. Time change is always mean. I've pulled out an old trick from Dan's last deployment...ear plugs. They have come in very handy with the noise. Jaelyn woke up Wednesday morning again in tantrum mode and except for the hours she was at school (because she doesn't want anyone to see how she behaves), it continued all day long!!!! I decided we need some medication in this house...for ME!!!! I'm not sure how much longer I can stay sane. Apparently she got it all out because yesterday was a great day. I even got to beat her a few times at Wordjong after she helped me put up a new shelf by her bed.

In addition to taking care of the kids, I've also managed to do some projects around the house. I found an old chair in a neighbor's trash and took it. I recovered the seat and cleaned it up some. It'll be perfect for the vanity in our bathroom when we put our house on the market. I also regrouted and sealed the kids' bathroom floor. It looks beautiful. I thought I hated white tile floors. Apparently, I love clean, white tile; it's the nasty grout I hated. I also got a new tube of caulk (you were right Dad) and recaulked both bathrooms. Next on my list, get busy repainting the woodwork in our house. Half is the original off white and half is a bad paint job of gloss white the previous owners painted.

Color is Good

A sweet friend received this in an email and shared it with me because it reminded her of me. It's too good not to post.

Yesterday I went to the doctor for my yearly physical. My blood pressure was high, my cholesterol was high. I'd gained some weight, and I didn't feel so hot. My doctor said eating right doesn't have to be complicated and it would solve my physical problems. He said just think in colors--Fill your plate with bright colors: greens, yellows, reds, etc.I went right home and ate an entire bowl of ...









Wait for it...

Insane Weather and Our Morning

It snowed last weekend and we had a snow day on Monday. Today, it is overcast and 75 outside. Crazy, absolutely crazy! I'm thankful though because it's allowed me to open the backdoor and throw the kids out. Well, not literally, they went out by themselves, but it is so nice to be sitting here typing on the computer listening to them playing the backyard through an open window. I need spring to come quickly.


We had a huge explosion last night from Jaelyn after a somewhat promising week. I've decided to rename her Mt. Jaesuvius. She's like a volcano. Sometimes you can feel the rumbling and antipate when she's going to blow, but other times, it comes from nowhere, with no notice. The bedtime ones are the hardest because I have 2 other kids who are tired and need to get into bed too. We had an appointment with our psychologist today. I'm going to meet with her alone next time. I'm not sure that it's helping Jaelyn much, but she is helping by validating me and how I'm dealing with Jaelyn.


After our appointment, we picked up fast food (so bad) and headed to the playground for a picnic. The picnic was kind of yuck because it was still muddy from our snow, but the kids had a ball at the playground. It's been too long since we've been able to play like that.

Look at that face. I was too busy taking his picture to help with the fireman pole. He can do it by himself, btw.

Veggie Experiment #2

The brownies were such a hit that I decided to try macaroni and cheese for dinner. I steamed and pureed a head of cauliflower this afternoon. For dinner, I made chicken, kraft macaroni and cheese with 1/2 a cup of cauliflower puree, and broccoli. Jaelyn and Allie both ate the macaroni and cheese. The puree made the cheese sauce creamier, but there was no difference in the taste. Nobody commented that it was different. The best part of the dinner had to be when I rewarded Jaelyn for eating her broccoli with a brownie. She didn't really want to eat the broccoli, but she did for that yummy spinach and carrot brownie LOL.

Sneaky, Sneaky Brownies

Can you keep a secret??? You can't say anything in front of the kids. I was sneaky, sneaky last night. I've been wanting a copy of a cookbook called Deceptively Delicious and found it for $5 the other day. All the recipes have pureed veggies snuck into them. I've decided it's time to start getting veggies into the incredible non-vegetable eating boy.

I tried my first recipe last night - Brownies with....(take a deep breath) spinach and carrots!!! It only took about 25 minutes to make the purees and then I was all set. The carrot puree just smelled like carrots, but the spinach, ack! It looked like what my lawn mower spits out on a pretty summery day and smelled much worse. To get 1/2 a cup of spinach puree, I used almost an entire bag of spinach so there's a lot in every bite.

The finished product....The batter had an odd dark green tinge to it, but the brownies look perfectly normal once they were cooked.And the verdict....Y-U-M-M-Y...by my standards too!!!! BTW, my mom used to let me have dessert for breakfast every now and then growing up. It was a real treat. I was so excited about the brownies that after cereal, I let the kids have one. I got away with taking pictures by telling the kids I wanted to send them to Baba to share with her I was passing on the tradition.The Incredible Non-Veggie Eating Boy eating spinach and carrots AND LIKING THEM! Sneaky, Sneaky!

Next up, macaroni and cheese with cauliflower. A friend shared another book, The Sneaky Chef, that I bought on ebay last night. I can't wait till it gets here. It supposedly has better recipes than the first one and explains how to make the purees better.

Our Week

I realized I haven't blogged all week. We'd had an okay week. We had a snow day on Monday. It snowed quite a bit on Sunday and then the wind blew the snow into a nice little snow drift in front of our house. I was unhappy to have to shovel the walk, but there was no way I was letting the kids play through 2 feet of snow to get to the car.

Tuesday, the kids were on delayed entry so I took them to run errands because there was no way I was giving up my 1 1/2 hours while Caden was in preschool. I so enjoy my me time at Panera with a book time, you know! Dan, your box is finally in the mail...sorry, I'm a bad wife.

Caden and Allie are sick again. Caden's had a horrible cough, but now it's changing to more of a runny, sneezey nose. We just started daily zyrtec to see if it'll help him stay well. Allie was dried out and has had 3 nose bleeds this week. She's draining now so hopefully it can get out of her. I have a sore throat so I've gone back to my allegra to try and keep me well. This Florida girl does not like winter. I am beyond ready for spring.