All Packed Up and Ready to Go

Dan has spent the morning sorting and packing all of his gear! Boy does he has a big pile and that doesn't include his weapons case that's at work.

He's out with Allie having some father/daughter bonding time right now. Next he's going to take Jaelyn and then Caden somewhere each on their own. I've buried myself in a book today to avoid reality. It was working until I finished my book. Now I'm back to reality and not liking it very much.

Deployment

Dan hasn't left yet, but the countdown has begun. Dan's orders had a start date of November 19. Even though he's not leaving until the 23rd, the countdown on his 270 day deployment started yesterday! We still aren't sure if he'll be allowed 2 weeks leave...I'd love prayers for that.

We Think She Can; We Think She Can

Four nights ago, Jaelyn decided she didn't want to wear a goodnight to bed. She's finally outgrown the largest size of pull-ups and hates the way goodnights feel. Who am I to make her put it on? It's not like I'm going to wake up cold and wet.

We let her go to bed in only underwear with a mattress pad underneath her. The first night, I woke her up to potty at 10:30 and again at 1:00. When I got up at 6:30, she was dry! Awesome! Last night was night 4. We've yet to have a big accident; although she has been damp here and there. I'm thrilled with her progress...from a soaked pull-up every night (and possibly peeing in it when she was awake in bed because she was too lazy to get out of bed) to damp underwear one or two nights. I know we have a ways to go and her little muscles have to get used to holding strong all night. I'm very encouraged though that she won't be going off to college in depends :p! Yea for Jaelyn!

Fa la la la lah la la la la

Caden and Dan singing Deck the Halls together

And for an encore, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

PS The bruise and goose egg knot in the middle of Caden's forehead are from Allie opening Caden's door into him. That lock was mean.

Moving on Up

I shared a few weeks ago that I was shocked to learn that Jaelyn was in a below grade level reading group at my parent teach conference. Well, I'm very proud to share that starting tomorrow, Jaelyn will be changing reading groups. She came home today and told me. I am very proud of her and her hard work. I'm not sure she's going to be happy because she'll be doing a little bit harder work and Jaelyn isn't really into being "challenged."

We Survived the Week

Hallelujah, it's Friday! We made it through the week. Dan is currently flying high on an airplane enroute from Atlanta to Baltimore! We will all be glad to have him home. And for next week, I think I'm going to be in denial that he's leaving again and just enjoy our time together.

As weeks go, this one was actually pretty good. Yes, I was ready to kill Jaelyn earlier in the week. I even showed her the picture from Wednesday of the duct taped baby and she cried "please don't do that to me." She thought I was serious. Too funny! Anyway, my "follow directions immediately" worked here and there. From Wednesday afternoon on, I'd say she did really well. There was a meltdown this morning, but I just took tickets and left her on her own to "get over it" which she did. Bedtimes have been better - I've just been reading longer until Allie's asleep. Allie seems to be the key. If she's asleep, Jaelyn stays quiet and goes to sleep. If Allie's awake when I go downstairs, they are going to play.

I made it to the gym 3 days this week. I did my own thing on Tuesday while Allie had ballet (treadmill and weights). Wednesday, I took a ballet class that was a killer and totally harder than I was expecting. I felt every muscle in my body yesterday. Last night, I did a low impact aerobics class that helped to stretch my achey muscles out. No aches or pains today. I think the exercise (and free childcare) is going to be my saving grace to save my sanity and my waistline over the next 270 days.

Copy-cat: Wordless Wednesday

My friend, Michele, likes to post a picture on Wednesdays and calls it Wordless Wednesday. After my last post, I went googling. Think Jaelyn would like this?

Oil and Water

That's what Jaelyn and I are together. I think a lot of it is that we are so much alike in the control area. Dan stands in the gap between us a lot. Last night and this morning were not fun. She won't listen or follow directions and when she does decide to follow directions, she moved at a snail's pace (literally, folks). It makes steam come out of my ears. I'm doing my hardest to keep it together, but I'm afraid I'm going to blow. I spent an hour on the treadmill last night and today I'm going to a balletone class (it's new, but I'm picturing slow stretches and deep breathing). She pitched a major pit again over her coat this morning. I'm thinking of a new sticker chart for "Following Directions the 1st time." That would cover everything from putting on pajamas to not jumping on my bed and brushing her teeth.

Any other ideas??? Prayers that I don't kill her (figuratively of course) or duct tape her to a wall (anyone have that picture anymore) would be much appreciated.

Made it Through Our First Weekend

The weekend actually wasn't too bad. We cried a little, laughed a lot, played games, finger painted, painted with brushes, played with play doh, red books, danced, colored and watched way too much TV. I was ever so thankful to put my two sweet girlies on the bus this morning so I could have a little break. Caden is so laid back and easy on his own.

I should be at the gym this morning working off the pan of brownies I baked and almost completely ate this weekend. Yikes. Instead, I've enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate while catching up on the news and emails. Maybe we'll go to the gym tonight.

The kids have really missed Danny. Resistant to change Allie is especially struggling. Yesterday, she decided Dan had been gone 4 days and we only had 3 to go (um no, honey, he's only been gone 2 days, 5 to go). She wouldn't hear me. The Daddy animals have been a big hit, especially at bedtime, I hear them when all is supposed to be quite. Jaelyn somehow messed hers up and recorded over it so I'm glad Dan will be home on Friday to rerecord her message for her because she is rather upset about it. They also have the build a bear animals from his last deployment so she still has daddy's recording. Caden misses Dan's bedtime "bump" routine, but he's letting me be a substitute. He's taught me how to knuckle bump, hand bump, elbow bump, knee bump, foot bump and leg bump. Silly Caden...Silly Daddy.

4 days to go.

Dancing in the Dark

For a little fun tonight, I dug out one of our favorite activities from Florida, only I added a little twist. In the evenings in an attempt to get the last bit of energy out of the kids, I used to turn on silly music and we'd dance around the playroom. We've only done it a few times in this house and tonight seemed like a good night to be silly and get some energy out before bed. I pulled out a pile of glow sticks from Dan's stash and gave them to the kids. We turned out the lights, turned the music up and had a blast dancing around in the basement. After that, I let the kids have a glow stick lit bath in the big tub (turns out the dancing charged them up instead of tiring them out, but the bath calmed them down). I put them to bed with glow stick night lights. Glow sticks are so versatile. It didn't take long and everyone is fast asleep. What do you think are the chances of them letting me sleep in tomorrow morning???

You Can Tell Dan Has Gone By...

...the fact that the refrigerator decided to be mean today. The kids tried to get water out of the front, but none came out. I tried the ice maker and nothing. I opened the doors and our fridge, stocked with groceries from Wednesday, was very dark. Oh no, but I know the drill. I checked the plug and then any GFI outlets in the kitchen. Next I trudged down the stairs to the basement. Sure enough, a breaker popped. I flipped it back and now the refrigerator is working fine. The big question, though, is why did it pop in the first place. It was nothing big today, but things always break when Dan first leaves. It's just how things work. It usually happens in 3s for some odd reason. Think I can count the fridge and get #1 out of the way???

Oh and BTW - I really needed to pull the fridge out today....yucky dust bunnies were multiplying exponentially under it and you all know how I feel about that. So that's my silver lining of the day!

Dentist Appointments

The kids had dentist appointments today and I LOVE the new pediatric dentist we are going to. I love the set up of the rooms, the staff, the dentist (there are 2 in the practice, but we've only seen 1). They put the kids in one room with 3 chairs set out in a triangle. There was a computer console in the middle that was turned depending on who's teeth were being worked on so the records went straight into the computer. The process was so fast, in 30 minutes they were all cleaned, polished, checked by the dentist and getting their prizes from the prize machine.

Everyone did great, even Jaelyn, who had x-rays for the first time. I talked with Dr. Neal about Jaelyn's teeth. We will do sealants on her 6 yr molars on our next visit (they aren't quite in all the way yet) and at that time, we'll talk about her crossbite. He wants her permanent laterals in first (boy are they loose). She has 1 central peaking through. If it doesn't start moving fast, she's going to have a huge hole on top. Caden's hurt tooth looks great. I just need to keep checking the ligaments.

All in all, a very positive experience for everyone! Who knows, maybe my kids will grow up to love dentist appointments as much as I do.

Ft. Benning Bound

Caden and I dropped Dan off this morning at the base. Someone will drive him to the airport (we couldn't because he has to take his M16 with him). He'll be at Ft. Benning for a week at CRC (I think that's the name of it) preparing for his deployment. While he's there, his parents are going to drive up to see him and have dinner. I know that'll make Miss Joanie happy ;-).

The kids and I will get a feel for what it's going to be like once he's really gone. I know we are going to be okay...it's just not going to be much fun. Dan will have a week with us and then he'll leave, leave on November 23rd. I'm not quite sure when he'll get to Iraq. He'll have several stops to make enroute to his base. His orders say November 19th and he's been told even though he's not leaving until the 23rd, the 270 days will start counting down on the 19th. Anyone want to count that for me??? Never mind, I goggled a calendar countdown...on or about Aug. 16th, I'll be throwing a party.

Oh Dear...Allie and Boys

The kids got off the bus yesterday running to tell me about Allie. One of the neighbor girls got to me first and was thrilled to get to spill the beans..."Allie has a boyfriend and she was holding his hand walking to the bus." Oh dear! We had the same boyfriend talk we had with Jaelyn last year. I must say that I'm concerned with Allie's taste. She likes "bad boys." She's been telling me about this kid, Raymond, since the beginning of school. He's gotten in trouble more than her and it seems spends most nap times in "the Butler's office" (aka Mrs. Buckler). And he's her boyfriend! I'm barely dealing with 5 and 6...can you imagine 15 and 16????

I Strongly Dislike Daylight Savings Adjustments

Why is it that adjusting to DST or from DST is so hard? The kids were doing awesome at sleeping. Two weeks ago, they were sleeping until almost 7:30 every morning. It made for a rush to get ready in the mornings and normally a drive to school instead of a bus ride, but who cares, they were sleeping until 7:30!!! So, time changed Saturday night and the kids have been getting up around 5 every morning since. I was expecting 6:30 with the hopes and moving it to 7, but instead of 1 hour, my kids have decided to wake up 2 1/2 hours early to play and play loudly at that! What is up with that???? It's driving me bonkers!

1st Quarter Parent/Teacher Conferences

I met with the girls' teachers this evening. Miss Burris had a wonderful report about Allie. She's made HUGE strides since starting school and received 6 Outstandings on her citizenship. She got Satisfactories in "star sitter," "listens attentively," and "self-control." The first week of school, every categories would have been marked "needs improvement." Miss Burris says she can really see the changes in Allie, especially in her work. She is paying more attention and taking the time to do it right. There is no more refusing to do work. Allie loves to help her friends and is always asking Miss Burris if there's anything she can do to help her. Miss Burris said everyone who meets Allie comments on how cute and funny she is. She does have quite the personality. As far as her reading and math, she is right where she should be. It was a really good meeting, especially when I remember the anxiety I had when school started. Allie is really going to make it!

Jaelyn is doing much better this year than she did last year. Mrs. Meerholz says that Jaelyn has no trouble focusing and staying on task. She's not the chatty cathy she was last year. Well, maybe a little in reading, but I was shocked to learn she is in a below average reading group. It makes no sense to me at all. I think she's doing great for 1st grade, but apparently, not as great as they expect. The reading groups are fluid and they retest often so if she continues the improvement the teachers and I are seeing, they'll move her up. Honestly, I've seen a huge improvement from September to now with her reading. In September, I had to make her read to me and she needed lots of help. Now, she'll pick up a book and just read. She's not stumbling over words or taking several minutes to sound out each word. She's on level or ahead in Math. On the math assessment, she scored 22 out of 24 (one of those she got the answer correct but she didn't do it their way - the directions said to circle a number of objects. She did, individually, instead of 1 big circle so she missed it.)

Overall, I'm happy with the progress Jaelyn and Allie have made. They've worked hard and I'm proud of them!!!

Hugs Back Home Animals

My dear friend, Kendra, used to run a non-profit organization to give build-a-bear type animals to children of deploying soldiers. She sent us a box full of animals in preparation of Dan's deployment and we stuffed the animals today.

Thank you, Kendra! I'm sure we will all enjoy hugging on our new lovies when we are sad and missing each other!

Family Games

I love playing games with the kids. Even Caden has gotten big enough that he can play with a little guidance. My limit is about 30 minutes before the kids get silly and stop listening, but we can usually play a couple of hands of uno or 1 game of Monopoly Jr. in that time period. I won by a landslide at Monopoly Jr. tonight. Allie seems to have lost her lucky touch and doesn't ALWAYS win every game anymore. That makes Jaelyn and Caden happy. Caden and I have been playing Sequence Jr in the day and I think he's starting to get it. I don't know if I blogged about it already, but Jaelyn can now beat me at Sequence. It's a little maddening to me, especially since she doesn't always know she's won. I'm proud of her though. She definitely has her own strategy when she plays!

Dear Santa...Love Jaelyn

Jaelyn has decided it's time to write Santa a letter. First we got online and found Santa's email address. She wrote him a letter and he sent a reply almost immediately. Next, she decided we should mail him a letter through the Post Office. Anyone know Santa's address? We've addressed the envelope: Santa Claus, North Pole, Arctic Circle. I sure hope it gets there ;). Here's the letter she's written. She erased the part where she told Santa she'd leave him cookies and leave carrots for his reindeer. My favorite part is the "d"unch of planet heroes she wants. I've told her if Santa brings a real pup or kitten, he's going to get a call to come pick them up!

Jaelyn also helped Caden write a letter. He says he wants a light saber and planet heroes along with a real pup and a real kitten. Again, that real pup and kitten won't be happening. I bet Santa can do something about the light saber and planet heroes; although Caden already has a light saber.

Bringing Back a Childhood Halloween Tradition

My mom hated Halloween while I was growing up. I'd have to ask her the exact reasons, but I think the dislike was mostly aimed at all the candy. Being the good dental hygienist my mom was, she once gave out toothbrushes and mini tubes of toothpaste. Can you imagine? I was too little to remember, but I've heard the stories. Anyway, my parents used to take my brother and I out to dinner. I can remember going to a buffet type place. Then they'd give us each $20 (which was a lot of money in the 70's) and take us to Target to buy a toy.

I have inherited my mom's dislike of Halloween. Not only is it unsafe, but who wants all of that candy in their house. Last year, the kids got 1 piece each and I threw the rest away. What a waste.

This year, I decided to restarted my Mom's tradition. Caden chose not to dress up, but Jaelyn dressed up as a tiger and Allie dressed up as a "lady" with a dress up dress and her hat. We went to Cracker Barrel for dinner, which is always good, and Jaelyn was beside herself with all the "what a cute cat" comments she got. I swear her head got at least 3 inches bigger. After dinner, we went to Walmart. I gave the kids each $10 (Too bad Baba wasn't here...I definitely won't be telling them I got $20 as a child). Caden started out with a light saber so Daddy could fight with him (we already have one), but put it down so he could buy a new Planet Hero - Gustus from Jupiter. He slept with Gustus last night. Jaelyn picked out 4 small horses complete with stables and Allie picked Jasmine and Belle Polly Pockets. The hit of the night, though, was the box of candy on the way out of Walmart. Everyone got 1 piece and all was right with the world.

Next Halloween, I guarantee we'll be continuing the tradition. Not only were the kids happy, but I didn't gain 5 pounds by eating candy that was meant to give out to trick or treaters!